LIMA, Thiago de Freitas.
Abstract:
Herbivorous insects consume almost all types of living plant tissue and damage can occur at any stage of the plant's life cycle and can cause damage to the plant by reducing the photosynthetic area, thus delaying its development. The objective of this work was to analyze the intensity of leaf tissue removal in young and mature Croton sonderianus leaves in an area of Caatinga, in Francisco Dantas-RN. 150 leaves of 15 individuals of C. sonderianus were analyzed, being 75 young leaves and 75 mature leaves. Total and removed leaf areas were calculated with the help of Image J software. Leaf size (U=0; p<0.0001) and removed leaf area (U=0; p<0.0001) were larger in mature leaves. Signs of herbivory were observed in 42.6% of young leaves and 100% of mature leaves. There was no correlation between total and removed leaf area neither in young leaves (rs=-0.11; p=0.69) nor in mature leaves (rs=0.44; p=0.10).
