Landscape connectivity and climatic drivers shaping Noctuidae communities in a Brazilian seasonally dryland fruit-producing region.
- 1Embrapa Semi-Arid Region, Petrolina, Pernambuco, 56302-970, Brazil. [email protected].
- 2Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), Areia, Paraíba, Brazil.
- 3Embrapa Genetic Resources & Biotechnology, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil.
Abstract
Drylands are highly sensitive to climatic shifts, affecting insect population dynamics and multi-trophic interactions. This study evaluated Noctuidae diversity and temporal distribution in the São Francisco Valley, a semi-arid, irrigated, fruit-producing region in Northeast Brazil, in relation to local environmental factors. We conducted monitoring over two consecutive years using Pennsylvania light traps deployed across two agricultural landscapes integrated with native Caatinga dry forest: an experimental multi-crop station and a commercial table grape farm. We captured 12,407 Noctuidae moths; raw richness favored the grapevine site, but diversity did not differ, and per-individual richness favored the multi-crop site once sampling effort was considered. Four Noctuinae species dominated the assemblage (94.04% of total captures): Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (39.53%), Elaphria agrotina (Guenée) (36.89%), Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker) (9.21%), and Spodoptera albula (Walker) (8.40%). Immediate captures of S. frugiperda and S. albula rose with lower wind speed and higher precipitation; previous-month captures showed the same patterns for S. frugiperda and S. albula, but E. agrotina responded to temperature and S. cosmioides to site and precipitation instead. Circular statistics indicated a stark temporal segregation between S. frugiperda and S. cosmioides. These findings suggest Caatinga connectivity elevates vineyard abundance, whereas the multi-crop mosaic's heterogeneity yields higher per-individual richness. Specialized crop management practices, such as continuous vineyard pruning, generate stable niches that favor detritivorous species like E. agrotina. Local multi-year calibrations are essential for accurate pest forecasting and integrated management across agricultural-forest interfaces in semi-arid zones.
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BibTeX
@article{costalima2026landscape,
title = {{Landscape connectivity and climatic drivers shaping Noctuidae communities in a Brazilian seasonally dryland fruit-producing region.}},
author = {Tiago Cardoso Costa-Lima and José Bruno Malaquias and Angélica da Silva Salustino and Magali Haidée Pereira Martínez and Alexandre Specht},
journal = {Neotropical entomology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s13744-026-01446-y},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42955486},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Landscape connectivity and climatic drivers shaping Noctuidae communities in a Brazilian seasonally dryland fruit-producing region.
AU - Tiago Cardoso Costa-Lima
AU - José Bruno Malaquias
AU - Angélica da Silva Salustino
AU - Magali Haidée Pereira Martínez
AU - Alexandre Specht
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Neotropical entomology
DO - 10.1007/s13744-026-01446-y
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42955486
AB - Drylands are highly sensitive to climatic shifts, affecting insect population dynamics and multi-trophic interactions. This study evaluated Noctuidae diversity and temporal distribution in the São Francisco Valley, a semi-arid, irrigated, fruit-producing region in Northeast Brazil, in relation to local environmental factors. We conducted monitoring over two consecutive years using Pennsylvania light traps deployed across two agricultural landscapes integrated with native Caatinga dry forest: an experimental multi-crop station and a commercial table grape farm. We captured 12,407 Noctuidae moths; raw richness favored the grapevine site, but diversity did not differ, and per-individual richness favored the multi-crop site once sampling effort was considered. Four Noctuinae species dominated the assemblage (94.04% of total captures): Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (39.53%), Elaphria agrotina (Guenée) (36.89%), Spodoptera cosmioides (Walker) (9.21%), and Spodoptera albula (Walker) (8.40%). Immediate captures of S. frugiperda and S. albula rose with lower wind speed and higher precipitation; previous-month captures showed the same patterns for S. frugiperda and S. albula, but E. agrotina responded to temperature and S. cosmioides to site and precipitation instead. Circular statistics indicated a stark temporal segregation between S. frugiperda and S. cosmioides. These findings suggest Caatinga connectivity elevates vineyard abundance, whereas the multi-crop mosaic's heterogeneity yields higher per-individual richness. Specialized crop management practices, such as continuous vineyard pruning, generate stable niches that favor detritivorous species like E. agrotina. Local multi-year calibrations are essential for accurate pest forecasting and integrated management across agricultural-forest interfaces in semi-arid zones.
SN - 1519-566X
SN - 1678-8052
ER -