CUTICULAR COMPOUNDS IN LEGS OF EUCALYPTUS BROWN CATERPILLAR, Thyrinteina arnobia Stoll (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE).

Abstract

The genus Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) has its origin in Australia, with over 730 recognized species and use in various sectors for commercial activities. In Brazil, eucalyptus crop has advantages such as its fast growing characteristics, high adaptation rates and great economic potential. However, in forest stands of Eucalyptus spp., the increase of extensive and contiguous production areas may cause ecological imbalance, through the abundance of food, causing insect population outbreaks. In the state of Alagoas, the occurrence and attack of Thyrinteina arnobia Stoll (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) has been significantly reported. Thus, the objective of this study was the extraction and identification of cuticular compounds from legs of adult individuals, assisting in the implementation of management strategies. To this end, 10 females and 30 adult males of T. arnobia, aged 24 to 48 hours, were used to formulate fore-, mid- and hind legs extracts at the Natural Resources Research Laboratory (LPqRN). The extracts were further analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID), helping in the possible identification of the obtained chemical compounds. Twenty-four female compounds and 21 male compounds were detected in the fore-legs. For mid-legs, 17 compounds were observed for females and 37 for males e and in hind legs, 13 compounds were detected in females and 26 compounds in T. arnobia males. Regarding chemical compounds, no similar compound was identified among the fore-legs. In the mid-legs extracts 07 similar compounds were detected. In hind leg extracts of females and males of T. arnobia only one similar compound 3-pentene-2-ol was detected. These results serve as a base study for the development and implementation of Integrated Forest Pest Management (IPM Forests) programs for national eucalyptus crop.