Relación entre la presencia y el daño de Monalonion velezangeli Carvalho & Costa y algunos factores climáticos en cultivos de aguacate cv. Hass

The effect of environmental factors on populations of Monalonion velezangeli Carvalho & Costa was studied in avocado cv. Hass planted in the Colombian Andes. Climate data for the 2010-2011 period were obtained from six automatic weather stations. Insect activity was monitored by recording the presence of M. velezangeli individuals and fresh damage signals on 12 tagged branches per tree, oriented towards the four cardinal points at low, medium and high tree strata. Relations were established between population indexes and temperature, relative humidity and wind speed by means of Biplot representations and correlation analyses. These analyses were carried out not only between records taken the same day, but also included backward cumulative values of climatic factors, i.e., the sum over a period of days before the assessment. The results suggest that temperature and relative humidity have a direct influence on the insect, while wind speed showed an inverse relationship. This study illustrates how the analysis of climate information can improve our predictive capacity on the establishment of M. velezangeli in avocado crops, which is a key aspect of integrated pest management.