Chrysopidae: species diversity in coffee and predatory behavior Leucoptera coffeella (Guérin-Mèneville and Perrottet, 1842) (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae)

Abstract

The coffee crop has great economic importance for Brazil, which is the first producer and second consumer of coffee in the world, accounting for 32% of the world market. Studies have shown that organic and shade-grown coffee systems have great advantages in terms of beverage quality, productivity, and the environment. In order to support future biological control programs that use Chrysopidae as a control agent, this research aims to know the diversity of Chrysopidae species in coffee crops (Coffea arabica L.) in the Franca - SP region and to verify which species are potential agents of biological control of the coffee leaf miner (Leucoptera coffeella). The studies will be conducted in four areas of organic cultivation, shade (cedar and mahogany) and conventional coffee in the region of Franca and the collections will be carried out weekly in a period of two years. Data on the number of species and specimens of Chrysopidae, as well as data on temperature and rainfall, will be tabulated for calculations of the diversity indexes of the Chrysopidae community present in these areas. The results of the indices will allow understanding the fluctuation and the distribution of the different species throughout the seasons, as well as the influence of the average temperature and the precipitation rate on this distribution. To verify if possible species of green lacewings are potential control agents of L. coffeella (coffee leaf miner), bioassays of predation and development behavior will be performed with the species with the highest occurrence in the study areas. In order to conduct the bioassays, the collected predators will be taken to the laboratory, where they will be screened, being sent to a specialist (taxonomist) for proper identification, and partly used to start creations, according to the species collected in the respective areas. In the laboratory, experiments will be carried out to determine the life history of each species of green lacewings, as well as the predation behavior in L. coffeella. Due to the high added value and the increase in the world demand for organic coffee and also of special coffees, Fapesp's support is fundamental, so that the coffee growers can control in an efficient and sustainable way the miner, L. coffeella, import pest of the crop. (AU)