Injuries and oviposition of Oncideres impluviata (Germar) (Col.: Cerambycidae) in Piptadenia gonoacantha (Mart.) Macbr.

Abstract

Beetles from genus Oncideres, known as twig girdler, have the habit of girdle branches of healthytrees, where they lay their eggs, to establish an appropriate environment to the development ofthe larvae. This study had the objective of characterize the injuries caused by O. impluviata inPiptadenia gonoacantha, quantify and position the eggs incisions in trees of this forest specie. Theresults showed that 63.16% of girdled branches were located on the upper third of the trees, withaverage girdle height above ground of 2.76±0.14 m. The average diameter and height of girdledbranches were 1.32±0.04 cm and 1.18±0.03 m, respectively. The average number of incisions perbranch was 5.9±1.24, which were located at higher frequency on the lower third of girdled branch.Can be concluded that the twig girdle beetle O. impluviata girdle mostly lateral branches locatedat the upper third of the tree and lay their eggs mostly on the lower third of the girdled branch,decreasing as advance to the upper third of the twig.