Inga edulis Mart. (Fabaceae) is a fruit plant found in secondary tropical forests in Central and South America (Silva et al. 2007a). Compounds from its leaves can be used to manufacture anti-inflammatory medicines (Silva et al. 2007b), and its fruits are rich sources of vitamins and antioxidants (da Silva & Rogez 2013). In addition, Inga species are used in landscaping projects, degraded area recovery, and in agroforestry systems (dos Santos Júnior et al. 2006; Leblanc et al. 2006; de Araújo & Pires 2009). Insect pests such as Methona themisto Hübner (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), reported in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, can reduce the productivity and aesthetics of I. edulis plants (Tavares et al. 2013).

Iphimeis dives Germar (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larvae and adults feed on numerous plants, including Acacia decurrens Willd., Glycine max (L.) Merr., Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC., Phaseolus vulgaris L. (all Fabaceae), Actinidia deliciosa C.F. Liang & A.R. Ferguson (Actinidiaceae), Campomanesia xanthocarpa (Mart.) O. Berg, Plinia cauliflora (Mart.) Kausel (both Myrtaceae), Chorisia sp. (Bombacaceae), Citrus × limon, Citrus reticulata Blanco, Citrus × sinensis (all Rutaceae), Coffea arabica L. (Rubiaceae), Diospyros kaki L.f. (Ebenaceae), Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae), Malus pumila Miller, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, Pyrus communis L., Rosa sp. (all Rosaceae), Solanum melongena L. (Solanaceae), and young leaves of Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae) (Mariconi 1962; Basso et al. 1974; de Oliveira et al. 2011; Wiest & Barreto 2012; Milléo et al. 2013; Alves et al. 2016; Luckmann et al. 2016). The objectives are to report a new host plant record for I. dives in Brazil, and to provide data on the egg mass characteristics of this insect.

The I. dives occurrence was monitored on 10 I. edulis adult plants in Nov 2013 and Nov 2014 by visual observation in landscaped areas in Lavras, Minas Gerais State, Brazil (21.2333°S, 44.9833°W, 919 masl). The rainfall and the average temperature in Lavras in Nov 2013 and Nov 2014, the months with the highest populations of the pest, were 180 and 224 mm, and 22.6 and 23.6 °C, respectively (INMET 2017).

A total of 50 I. dives adults, without sex determination, were collected in Nov 2013 and another 50 in Nov 2014, placed in 250 mL plastic pots and brought to the Regional Museum of Entomology “Ubirajara Martins” of the Federal University of Lavras in Lavras, where the sex of the insects was determined. Five males and 5 females were mounted and sent to Dr. Germano Henrique Rosado Neto, of the Department of Zoology of the Federal University of Paraná in Curitiba, Paraná State, Brazil, for species identification. The characteristics of the I. dives antennae and legs (Mariconi 1962) were compared with dichotomous insect keys for this genus and with others of the same species deposited at the Federal University of Paraná entomological collection. These specimens were preserved as sample number 0092/2013-RN. Inga edulis branches with flowers and fruits were collected and sent to Dr. Rubens Manoel dos Santos, of the Department of Forest Sciences of the Federal University of Paraná for plant species identification.

Five pairs of young I. dives collected from I. edulis in Nov 2014 were placed individually in 500 mL plastic pots at 25 ± 2 °C, 70 ± 1% RH, and 12:12 h (L:D) photoperiod at 2,000 lux. Fresh I. edulis leaves, with the petiole immersed in a container with water, were offered ad libitum to the insects and changed when necessary. The proportion of beetles which females oviposited, number of eggs per mass (± SE), and the period (d) between the first and last egg deposited per pair of I. dives were evaluated.

Hundreds of adult I. dives were observed feeding on leaves of 10 I. edulis plants that were about 5 yr old in Nov 2013 and 6 yr old in Nov 2014 (Fig. 1A). Insects fed from the edge to the center of the leaf (Fig. 1B). Iphimeis dives pairs were observed mating on I. edulis plants, but neither eggs nor larvae were observed on the plants after visual examination (Fig. 1C).

All I. dives pairs collected in Nov 2014 oviposited in the laboratory. The number of eggs per mass was 69.2 ± 10.6. The first egg was deposited 1 d after the insects were brought from the field, and the last 14 d later, with an average duration of 2.6 ± 1.1 d for each act of oviposition. Eggs were orange and oval (Fig. 1D).

The I. dives abundance in Nov 2013 and Nov 2014 in Lavras coincided with the beginning of the rainy season in this municipality (Beijo et al. 2005) and may affect I. edulis phenology. The rainy season favors emergence of new leaves by this plant (Milléo et al. 2013), which are preferred by I. dives for feeding. The high number of I. dives in Nov in Lavras at the beginning of the rainy season agrees with the report for this insect from Oct to Dec 2004 and Oct to Dec 2005 in an orchard area in Ponta Grossa, Paraná State, Brazil (Milléo et al. 2013). Iphimeis dives was reported on C. xanthocarpa in Oct 2011 in Dois Vizinhos, Paraná State, Brazil (Luckmann et al. 2016). In Sep and Oct 2014, I. dives was reported on P. vulgaris in Assis Chateaubriand and Palotina, Paraná State, Brazil (Alves et al. 2016). Reports of I. dives in Paraná State from Sep to Dec coincided with the period of highest rainfall in this state (Waltrick et al. 2015) similar to that of its occurrence in Lavras in 2013 and 2014. Inga edulis should be included in the list of suitable I. dives host plants.

Fig. 1.

Iphimeis dives (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and its damage on Inga edulis (Fabaceae) (A, B), mating (C), and eggs (D).