Population fluctuation of <i>Diatraea saccharalis</i> (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera – Crambidae) in sugar cane in the municipality of União-PI, Brazil

Abstract

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794), (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is the main pest of the sugar cane in Brazil. This study aimed at evaluating the population fluctuation of D. saccharalis in sugar cane and its correlation with the climatic factors. The observations were made in the plant of the Parnaíba Valley Company (COMVAP), which belongs to Olho D’àgua Group, located in the municipality of União – Piauí, Brazil. Average air temperature, maximum air temperature, minimal air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, insolation, pluviometric precipitation and atmospheric pressure were evaluated during the year 2007. The metereological data and the number of adults collected were submitted to Pearson’s correlation analysis (r). The population peak of borer occurred in June and the analysis of the data showed that the minimum air temperature showed negative correlation to the number of adults collected (r = - 0.733, p = 0.006) and the atmospheric pressure showed a positive correlation (r = 0.6759, p = 0.0158).