EFFECT OF PLANTATION AGE ON DIVERSITY AND POPULATION FLUCTUATION OF LEPIDOPTERA COLLECTED IN EUCALYPTUS PLANTATIONS IN BRAZIL

A faunistic survey of Lepidoptera associated with eucalyptus was carri ed out from June 1989 to June 1994 in a plantation at the Vale do Rio Doce Region, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Insects were collected eve ry fifteen days with five light traps and divided in primary, secondar y and non-pests of eucalyptus as well as a group of nonidentified morp hospecies. Twelve primary pests with 5823 individuals; 17 secondary pe sts with 2757 individuals; 148 non-pests with 8856 individuals and 117 9 unidentified morphospecies with 11,834 individuals were collected. T he most abundant primary pest species were Stenalcidia grosica and Gle na unipennaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) while Eacles imperialis magn ifica and Automeris illustris (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) and Idalus ad mirabilis (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) were the most abundant secondary sp ecies. Differences in numbers of individuals trapped were significantl y higher between locations of light traps than between years. There we re significantly more species in the last years of this study, but the number of specimens was similar for all years. These results indicate a high environmental stability and suggest that this region is one of the most suitable areas for Eucalyptus plantation in Brazil. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.