Insect fauna associated with orchard of macadamia nuts in Jaboticabal, SP

Abstract

The growing of macadamia nuts is recent in Brazil, most available information and recommended technologies for production were adapted from research conducted for the soil and climatic conditions in Hawaii and Australia. This fact highlights the importance and necessity of developing research on the insect fauna, aimed at integrated pest management of walnut. In this project, will be realized a population survey of arthropods in macadamia nuts in Jaboticabal-SP, to identify the main species of arthropod pests and natural enemies and determine the dominant species, conducting the study of population dynamics of these species and correlating them with meteorological factors. Sampling will be conducted from December 2010 to November 2011. Biweekly ten plants will be chosen randomly and sampled by visual search and the method of the entomological umbrella. The dominant species will be determined through analysis of faunal indices considering the frequency, constancy, abundance and dominance. The influence of meteorological factors on the dominant species will be obtained by multiple regression analysis. The similarity between the populations of arthropod pests and natural enemies, and the species diversity of these organisms will be assessed separately for different phenological stages macadamia nuts, using the Morisita similarity index and evenness and diversity Shannon-Weaner.