Occurrence of the stinkbug Edessa meditabunda F. (Pentatomidae) in differents cultivars of lettuce Lactuca sativa L. (Asteraceae)

Abstract

Research involving pests of vegetables are scarce, especially when considering the culture of lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Thus, the objective of this study was to verify the presence of stinkbugs Edessa meditabunda on four cultivars of lettuce. The experiment was conducted in field conditions in the vegetable garden of farm Florentino, municipality of Novo Progresso, south of Pará, between the months of October and December 2010. We used four cultivars of lettuce: Elba (group curly), Teresa (American Group), Regina (smooth group), and Mimosa (clippings group). The samplings of stinkbugs E. meditabunda were made in December, when the plants already had 30 days after transplantation. In each cultivar was randomly selected one lettuce plant per line, totaling 10 plants sampled from each cultivar/day and 30 plants per cultivar during all samplings. We collected 443 adults, 127 nymphs and 50 postures of E. meditabunda and some plants presenting up to 24 adults. The results of this study show that the incidence of adults, nymphs and postures found in the cultivar Elba (curly) is relatively high compared to other cultivars, indicating the preference of stinkbugs for this cultivar. Considering the few studies conducted with the stinkbug E. meditabunda, and this being the first to obtain information on the occurrence of stinkbugs attacking different cultivars of lettuce, we suggest for further studies to examine the physiological effect caused by these insects in different cultivars of lettuce.