Does Vegetational Diversification Reduce Coffee Leaf Miner Leucoptera coffeella (Guerin-Meneville) (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae) Attack?

The effects of increasing plant diversity on the population of the coffee leaf-miner Leucoptera coffeella: (Guerin-Meneville) were investigated in two organic coffee production systems. One system consisted of coffee intercropped with banana trees (shaded system) and the other one of coffee intercropped with pigeon pea (unshaded system). The increase in plant diversity on both systems was achieved via introduction of green manures such a perennial pea nut, sunn hemp and Brazilian lucerne. The population of L. coffeella, predation and parasitism of L. coffeella: mines were biweekly evaluated during eight months. The increase in plant diversity on both systems did not affect the attack of L. coffeella on coffee leaves and the mine parasitism rate. However, there was a positive and significant relationship between increasing plant diversity and coffee leaf mine predation by wasps on unshaded coffee system and a negative relationship on shaded coffee system.