ABSTRACT
The crabwood tree (Carapa guianensis Aubl.) is a forest species of great importance for the Amazon people. In Brazil, it is frequently found in floodplain forests throughout the Amazon basin, but it can also be found interra firme forest. It is a tree of multiple uses with great potential for forest management, because it presents high density and aggregate distribution. Its wood is of high commercial value, as well as the oil extracted from its seeds, which is widely targeted by the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. However, much of the potential of the oil production can be lost by damages to the seeds, especially those caused by insects. Among them, the moths are prominent: Hypsipyla ferrealis andHypsipyla grandella. Our objective was to identify the species of Lepidoptera occurring in fruits of crabwood trees in a floodplain forest in Macapá, State of Amapá. The study was conducted in the Fazendinha Protected Area, where all the adult and productive crabwood trees were inventoried. We collected 67 fruits directly from the canopy of five crabwood trees, using rappel techniques and/or spurs. After assessing the biometric variables of fruits and seeds, we isolated healthy seeds from damaged seeds. The latter were sent to the Laboratory of Entomology Embrapa Amapá, following they were placed in plastic trays covered with voil and daily monitored until the emergence of adult insects. All adults were mounted, deposited in an entomological box and properly identified. Two fruits collected at 35 m height were infested. We obtained 21 pupae, emerging 18 adults: Hypsipyla ferrealis (11 specimens) and Hypsipyla grandella(7 specimens).
Keywords:
crabwood borer; shoot borer; floodplain forest; Florestam