Occurrence of Phyllocnistis sp. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) on weeds in citrus orchard in Rio Grande do Sul State

Abstract

Citrus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella, Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) is an important
citriculture pest in several countries. In Brazil, the first record of this insect was in 1996, in nurseries of Limeira, São Paulo State, and, in the same year, the pest infested orchards and nurseries in Rio Grande do Sul State. Another species of microlepidopteran, morphologically similar to P. citrella, was detected in Rio Grande do Sul, weeds, in citrus orchards. This insect uses as hosts Baccharis anomala (cambará-de-cipó), Conyza bonariensis (buva), Sida urens (guanxuma) and Ludwigia elegans. Plants of the Asteraceae family were important feeding
sources for this insect in the studied orchard. The largest population of Phyllocnistis sp. occurred during winter and spring. This was the first record of Phyllocnistis sp. in Rio Grande do Sul.