Faunistic analysis of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in a guava orchard and semideciduous forest fragment in Central-West Region of Brazil

Abstract

The fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritoidea), are the dipteran with greater economic importance, including pest species of various fruit crops such as guava. For the management of these pests, it is essential to know what species are present in the culture, as well as in the surrounding native vegetation, which may serve as a reservoir for these species. The objective of this research was to characterize and compare through faunistic analysis (frequency, abundance, constancy, equitativity, richness and diversity) populations of Anastrepha Schiner and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) and a commercial guava orchard in a fragment of adjacent native semideciduous forest in Central-West Region of Brazil. The fruit flies were collected from January 2008 to March 2009, through McPhail traps containing 5% solution of corn syrup. A total of 4,180 fruit fly specimens were collected in the forest fragment, and 20,108 in the guava orchard. Besides C. capitata, nine species of Anastrepha were found in the forest, with A. undosa Stone occurring exclusively in this ecosystem. In the orchard, C. capitata and eleven Anastrepha species were collected, three of them exclusively found in this ecosystem: A. amita Zucchi, A. zenildae Zucchi, and A. distincta Greene. The species A. sororcula Zucchi and A. fraterculus (Wiedemann) were classified as superabundant, constant, superdominant and superfrequent in both ecosystems. The species richness and abundance were higher in the guava orchard than in the forest fragment.

Keywords

• agricultural entomology
• insect management
• pomiculture
• neotropical fauna.