Abstract

VALAREZO BELTRON, Carlos Oswaldo et al. Diversity of insects in the cultivation of Citrus aurantifolia and surrounding vegetation in two ecological localities of Ecuador. RIIARn [online]. 2022, vol.9, n.2, pp.44-51. ISSN 2409-1618.  https://doi.org/10.53287/cgcj2651ps25z.

The diversity of insects and the balance of the populations of beneficial and phytophagous insects is fundamental in the health of the different ecosystems. The objective was to evaluate the diversity of the insect population in the cultivation of lemon (Citrus aurantifolia) and surrounding vegetation in two ecological localities of the Portoviejo canton, Manabí province, Ecuador during the period 2018-2019. Line transect sampling with capture units replicated three times was used. In the vegetation within the crop, the replicas were distributed in the left, right and central zones, in the vegetation surrounding the crop they were located on the left, right and upper outer edge. The number of insects found on plants inside and outside the crop was counted, then they were classified according to their trophic guild. The analyzes were performed with IBM SPSS version 25 software. The assumption of normality for the number of insects was verified using the Shapiro test. The number of insects by ecological locality and study area was compared using the Mann Whitney test. Significant differences were counted for the total number of beneficial insects and phytophagous insects individually for each locality and as a joint sum (general) for both localities. It was found that the total population of insects in the lemon crop (beneficial + phytophagous) was higher in the locality of Colón, compared to Riochico. It was also established that, in both locations, the amount of insects collected in the surrounding vegetation was higher compared to that found within the cultivated area. In addition, phytophagous insects were found in a much higher proportion than beneficial ones, which only corresponded to predatory species.

Keywords : lime; location; number of insects; phytophagous insects; beneficial insects.

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