Chrysomelid beetles in eucalyptus plantations in Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Eucalyptus plantations have been growing in the last years in the Mesoregion of Zona da Mata Mineira, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. However, in spite of the favorable factors for the establishment of eucalypt plantations in this region, the occurrence of leaf-eating beetles of the family Chrysomelidae can make such forest projects unfeasible. Therefore, this work aimed to record and characterize the occurrence of leaf-eating beetles in eucalypt plantations located in Zona da Mata Mineira. One plantation by location was evaluated based in the first record of occurrence of the insects in the year 2008. In each plantation, 100 trees were sampled to obtain the frequency of damaged trees. The following beetles were observed: Costalimaita ferruginea; Agrianes validicomis and Metaxyonycha angusta, damaging eucalypt trees in Astolfo Dutra, Coimbra, Vicosa and Visconde do Rio Branco counties. Only outbreaks of Costalimaita ferruginea happened in the four plantations evaluated. In Visconde do Rio Branco, all the trees were damaged by Costalimaita ferruginea and in Vicosa, Coimbra and Astolfo Dutra 15%, 46% and 64% were damaged, respectively. The results obtained in this work serve as an alert for authorities and forest growers acting in the Zona da Mata Mineira, Minas Gerais state.