Chrysomelid beetles in eucalyptus plantations in Minas Gerais State, Brazil/Besouros crisomelideos em plantios de eucalipto na Zona da Mata Mineira

Eucalyptus plantations have been growing in the last years in the Mesoregion of Zona da Mata Mineira, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. However, in spite of the favorable factors for the establishment of eucalypt plantations in this region, the occurrence of leaf-eating beetles of the family Chrysomelidae can make such forest projects unfeasible. Therefore, this work aimed to record and characterize the occurrence of leaf-eating beetles in eucalypt plantations located in Zona da Mata Mineira. One plantation by location was evaluated based in the first record of occurrence of the insects in the year 2008. In each plantation, 100 trees were sampled to obtain the frequency of damaged trees. The following beetles were observed: Costalimaita ferruginea; Agrianes validicornis and Metaxyonycha angusta, damaging eucalypt trees in Astolfo Dutra, Coimbra, Vicosa and Visconde do Rio Branco counties. Only outbreaks of Costalimaita ferruginea happened in the four plantations evaluated. In Visconde do Rio Branco, all the trees were damaged by Costalimaita ferruginea and in Vicosa, Coimbra and Astolfo Dutra 15%, 46% and 64% were damaged, respectively. The results obtained in this work serve as an alert for authorities and forest growers acting in the Zona da Mata Mineira, Minas Gerais state. Keywords: Leaf-eating beetles; Forest entomology; Eucalyptus; Production A cultura do eucalipto tem crescido nos ultimos anos na Mesorregiao da Zona da Mata Mineira. Entretanto, apesar dos fatores favoraveis para o estabelecimento de plantios de eucalipto nessa regiao, a ocorrencia de besouros desfolhadores da familia Chrysomelidae pode inviabilizar tais projetos florestais. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi registrar e caracterizar a ocorrencia desses besouros em plantios de eucalipto localizados na Zona da Mata Mineira. Foi avaliado apenas um plantio por localidade com base no primeiro relato de ocorrencia desses insetos. Em cada plantio, 100 arvores foram amostradas para obtencao do percentual de arvores atacadas. Verificou-se a presenca de Costalimaita ferruginea, Agrianes validicornis e Metaxyonycha angusta injuriando arvores de eucalipto em Astolfo Dutra, Coimbra, Vicosa e Visconde do Rio Branco. Apenas Costalimaita ferruginea ocorreu em nivel de surto nos quatro plantios vistoriados. Constatou-se que, em Visconde do Rio Branco, todas as arvores estavam atacadas por Costalimaita ferruginea e em Vicosa, Coimbra e Astolfo Dutra o percentual de ataque foi de 15%, 46% e 64%, respec