Raimundo Braga Sobrinho

Seleção massal de acerola em plantio comercial

Genetic variability can easily be found in commercial orchards allowing the selection of superior matrix plants. The main purpose of this work was to conduct a selection of acerola (Malpighia emarginata) plants in the Frutas do Ceara S/A (FRUCESA) orchard, in Jaguaruana county, CE, Brazil. The mass selection allowed the choice of 100 desirable plants. Seed germination varied from 0.0% to 84.5%, mean of 13.9% and standard deviation of 11.6%, suggesting the occurrence of genetic variation among plants for this character.

Diets based on soybean protein for Mediterranean fruit fly

The objective of this work was to develop suitable and economic diets for mass rearing Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae). Diets containing sugar beet bagase, wheat bran, brewer yeast, and others with wheat bran and palletized soybean protein from Brazil were tested. Diets based on soybean protein have shown promising results regarding pupal recovery, pupal weight and adult emergence. Soybean bagase in the form of pellets with 60% of protein can be a very important substitute for other expensive sources of protein.

Produção integrada de Anonáceas no Brasil

Technical and operational concepts within Integrated Production (IP) come to directly attend the requirements of national and international agencies which are in charge of inspection of commodities with focus on safety and quality of foods bought by consumers. The guarantee of producing a safe and traceable food is reached by harmonic effort of productive chain components. This must include following the Specific Technical Rules (STR) for each product allowing an effective control of the production systems by monitoring every phase of this productive chain. This concept begun with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and, afterward expanded to a holistic vision based on four pillars: organization of the productive business; sustainable system; monitoring of the whole process; and formation of a data set. This vision includes the Integrated Production of Annonaceae, project that begun in 2010 supported by CNPq/MAPA/EMBRAPA and affiliated institutions. Annonaceae represents generic name to designate plants of Annonaceae family which has about 120 genus and about 2,300 species. In Brazil there is a register of 29 genus with 260 species. Among species of great commercial importance there are sour soup (Annona muricata L.), sweet apple (Annona squamosa L.), cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill) and the atemoia, hybrid of A. cherimola and A. squamosa. These fruits area highly accepted due to their excellent taste and possible use as pulp for juices and others uses. Commercial areas are concentrated in the Northeast of Brazil. The largest plantations of sour soup and sweet apple are located in the state of Bahia, for sweet apple the state of Alagoas, and for atemoia the state of Sao Paulo. Research results for these four fruits are still very poor. Improvement has to be done on genetic, pest control, disease control, physiology of production and post harvesting.

Aspectos biológicos de adultos de um parasitóide do bicudo do algodoeiro

Bracon sp. is an important biological control agent of Anthonomus grandis, the cotton Boll weevil. The objective of this work was to evaluate biological aspects of Bracon sp. using cotton Boll weevil larvae as host, at conditions of 26 ± 2oC, with 70 ± 5% RH and 12h photoperiod. The complete life cycle of Bracon sp. was 11.7 days. The incubation period lasted 1.0 day and the larval period 3.9 days with four stages; the viability of the larvae was 98.7%; prepupal period lasted 0.6 day; and the pupal period lasted 6.2 days. Preoviposition period was 4.0 days, and the females laid an average of 74.0 eggs with in an oviposition period of 27.2 days, while the average daily oviposition rate was 2.7 eggs per female per day, posovipositional lasted 3.7 days, and the longevity of Bracon sp. was 34.0 days in females. The information of the biology of this Braconid is needed to develop parasitoid propagation and colonization strategies.

Taxonomic identification of lepidopterous species of cashew plant in Brazil

Este trabalho relata a identificacao taxonomica das especies de lepidopteros Thagona postropaea Dyar (Limantriidae), Stenoma cathosiota Meyrick (Stenomatidae) e Anacampsis cf. phytomiella Busck (Gelechiidae) que atacam o cajueiro (Anacardium occidentale L.) no Brasil. Tipos de dano, locais de ocorrencia e niveis de ataque sao citados.

Developing a mass-rearing system for Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) in north-eastern Brazil

Fruit fly pests in north-eastern Brazil include several species of the genus Anastrepha and the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). The most common species are Anastrepha zenildae Zucchi, the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann), the West Indian fruit fly Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) and Anastrepha sororcula Zucchi. In this study, attempts were made to mass-rear A. zenildae and A. fraterculus. The objective was to adapt local populations to laboratory conditions and develop mass-rearing systems for further utilization in integrated area-wide control programmes. Small colonies initially fed on guava fruits were developed in the laboratory. Adults were fed a diet made of brown sugar (60%), hydrolysed corn protein (26%), brewer’s yeast (5%) and honey (9%). Adult diets with other combinations of ingredients were also tested. The colonies of A. zenildae and A. fraterculus achieved mating and egg hatch rates of 32 and 39%, respectively. The best diets for adults, resulting in good egg hatch, were as follows: diet B — brown sugar (60%), hydrolysed corn protein (26%), brewer’s yeast (5%) and honey (5%); diet C — hydrolysed corn protein and white sugar (1:3); and diet D — soybean protein and white sugar (1:3). The best larval diet was based on 18% sugarcane bagasse and 9% protein. Adult mortality during the first 15 days was still high, over 50%. Adult recovery from pupae was over 70%. The best oviposition substrate was an agar-coated glass bottle. Mating compatibility was highest for A. fraterculus from the state of São Paulo. Mating between A. fraterculus and A. zenildae yielded no viable eggs.

Occurrence of Fulcidax coelestina (Lac.)(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Fulcidacinae) in Barbados cherry Malpighia glabra L.

Desde janeiro de 1996, o crisomelideo Fulcidax coelestina (Lac.), pertencente a subfamilia Fulcidacinae, tem sido encontrado atacando severamente ramos laterais e principal de plantas da acerola Malpighia glabra L. nos municipios de Pacajus e Paraipaba no Estado do Ceara. As larvas fazem o anelamento do ramo principal e dos laterais da planta, provocando o bloqueio floemico com consequente seca dos ramos ou planta. A mortalidade pode chegar a 100% em plantas jovens. Este e o primeiro registro da ocorrencia da praga atacando a aceroleira no Brasil. A presenca continua do inseto nos plantios de acerola tem forcado o uso sistematico do controle quimico para reduzir as populacoes. O adulto apresenta corpo azul metalico com superficie extremamente rugosa. O ultimo estadio larval constroi um envoltorio em forma de coracao utilizando seu proprio excremento onde completa o ciclo.