Phytoseiidae Berlese, 1913 (ACARI: MESOSTIGMATA) em Arecaceae em seis municípios do Maranhão

Abstract

The Cerrado is an environment that harbors a high number of endemic species, therefore it is considered a "hotspot" of diversity and occupies the second position in territorial extension in Brazil. The Amazon biome ranks first, thus being the largest among the others, its biodiversity is wide in both fauna and flora, which makes it relevant, as it is home to an infinity of plant and animal species, in addition to contributing to various ecosystem services and stocks. of carbon. Among the plant species we can list the Arecaceae family, it constitutes one of the most abundant plant species in different biomes, it helps in the balance of ecosystems, it is considered the third most valuable family for humanity, in addition to being a reservoir bank of extreme relevance for the occurrence of mites, including the Phytoseiidae family. This work aimed to evaluate the occurrence of Phytoseiidae mite species in Arecaceae Babaçu (Attalea speciosa Mart.), Tucum (Astrocaryum vulgare Mart.), Buritizeiro (Mauritia flexuosa L.), Coconut tree (Cocus nucifera L.), Carnaubeira (Copernicia prunifer (Mill.) H.E. Moore.) and Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart) in six municipalities in Maranhão. The research was carried out in the municipalities of São Luís, Barreirinhas, Pirapemas, Vargem Grande, Chapadinha and Santa Inês. In each area, 10 plants were selected, removing 15 leaflets per plant and 150 per collection during 12 collections per year in each municipality. The collected plant material was sent to the Laboratory of Entomology/Acarology at the State University of Maranhão for extraction of the mites by the washing method, and subsequently mounted on microscopic slides for identification. The mites Amblyseius Largoensis (25,9%), Iphyseiodes zuluagai (17%), Amblyseius aerialis (16%), Euseius concordis (15%) stood out as the highest population levels. The mite A. Largoensis stood out in relation to the host plants, occurring in three different plant species and in three different municipalities. As for the predator A. aerialis, there was a preference for the host plant Attalea speciosa Mart in three of the six municipalities studied. Santa Inês had the highest Equitability Index in relation to the other municipalities. More studies should be carried out in order to find phytoseiid mites, potentially predators of mite pests of important agricultural crops in the state of Maranhão.