First record of Aricoris campestris (Bates, 1868) Lepidoptera: Riodinidae in pitaya in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Pitaya (Selenicereus spp.) is a tropical fruit tree belonging to the Cactaceae family, native to the tropical regions of Central and South America. Your cultivation has been considered promising due to its organoleptic characteristics and its high acceptance in the market. However, little information is available about pests associated with pitaya in northeastern Brazil. Here, we aim to communicate the identification and record of the occurrence of a pest insect in a pitaya plantation in the Caatinga. Caterpillars of this lepidopteran were collected from parts of pitaya plants, in January 2021, in the municipality of São João do Cariri, PB (7°23'27” S, 36°31'57” W), placed in plastic containers and transported to the Invertebrates Laboratory of the Biosciences Department at the Agricultural Sciences Center of the Federal University of Paraíba, in the municipality of Areia, PB. Under laboratory conditions, the caterpillars were fed with pitaya shoots and kept in an environment with controlled conditions of temperature and humidity. When they reached the pupal stage, they were transferred to a cage and kept until the adults emerged. Identification of the adult was carried out by a specialist, by comparison with specimens from the Reference Collection of the Laboratory of Ecology and Interactions of Insects of the Caatinga (CLEIIC), belonging to the Federal University of Campina Grande, Patos, PB. The lepidopteran is Aricoris campestris (Bates, 1868), belonging to the Riodinidae family, Nymphidiini tribe, which also attacks other cacti in the region and has already been recorded in other areas in northeastern Brazil.