OCCURRENCE OF LEPIDOPTERA SPECIES IN ORGANIC COFFEE AGROECOSYSTEM SHADED WITH AVOCADO

Purpose: Lepidoptera is a diverse order of insects and has about 500 thousand species distributed throughout the world. In Brazil, about 26 thousand species are known. Lepidoptera are insects of agronomic importance and many species are considered agricultural pests. This work aimed at the occurrence of lepidopteran species in an organic agroecossystem of shaded coffee with avocado located in Franca-SP (20°26'53"S 47°24'6"W). Methods: In order to perform the samplings, a sweep net with a cylindrical handle of wood with a length of 120 cm was used, the circular support structure of 30 cm in diameter and a mosquito net for the net, measuring 75 cm in length. Manual samplings of the individuals found in the larval phase. The insects were taken to the laboratory in individual 500 ml containers for later identification. Weekly daytime collections were carried out from October 2017 to March 2018. Results: Sixteen species belonging to eight families were found Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Papilionidae, Limacodidae, Megalopygidae, Arctiidae, Saturniidae and Elachistidae. The collected species were: Nymphalidae family Heliconius ethilla narcaea , Heliconius erato , Hamadryas amphinome , Hamadryas februa februa , Callicore sorana , Agraulis vanillae , Dryas iulia ; Arctiidae family Lophocampa modesta ; Megalopygidae family Megalopyge lanata , Phobetron hipparchia ; Limacodidae family Euphobetron aquapennis ; Papilionidae family Heraclides anchisiades capys ; Pieridae family Ascia monuste orseis ; Saturniidae family Eacles imperialis magnifica and Elachistidae family Stenoma catenifer . Conclusion : High diversity of lepidopteran species was observed in the organic coffee agroecosystem of shaded avocado trees, emphasizing that some species were observed for the first time in these crops.