Insectos plaga asociados al cultivo de Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton & Rose, en el cantón La Troncal, provincia del Cañar

Abstract

The red pitahaya white pulp Hylocereus undatus, variety (Haw.) Britton & Rose), is a crop of great importance in the international market, located in tropical and subtropical areas belonging to the parishes of the canton Troncal, this fruit is characterized as a perennial, climbing, epiphytic and wild plant located in little explored areas or virgin tropical forests, where they develop on woody trees thanks to its epiphyte-parasitic nature, this species does not have leaves, it consists of pseudotalli called aculeus, located on its edges where they generate fascicles or buds that originate shoots and inflorescences where the fruit develops. So far, in the canton of La Troncal no studies on this crop have been recorded, which makes it difficult to manage and identify pests and diseases, which is why this research was conducted with the objective of knowing the richness and abundance of insect pests associated with the crop in the canton of La Troncal belonging to the province of Cañar, during the period from March to September 2021. The main insect pest orders identified were: hymenoptera, diptera, lepidoptera and hemiptera, which obtained a difference in the number of insect pests, however the four orders have a rapid dissemination and expansion in the crop, however a correlation was found for each of these orders with climatic variables of temperature, Relative humidity was more relevant in the propagation of insects of the order Hemiptera and Hymenoptera, while precipitation and temperature affected insects of the order Diptera and Lepidoptera. It is worth mentioning that precipitation and temperature were directly correlated for the orders Diptera and Lepidoptera as opposed to the orders Hemiptera and Hymenoptera.