Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaThe main objective of Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro, Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical (CIFC/IICT) is to contribute for the development of coffee varieties resistant to coffee leaf rust, Hemileia vastatrix. Mealybugs are a major phytossanitary problem of coffee varieties maintained by CIFC/IICT, due to their interference with the production of young coffee leafs necessary for the inoculation of fungi. The aims of the present work were: a) to identify the mealybug species associated with commercial varieties of coffee, such as Catimor and Sarchimor, in the greenhouses of CIFC/IICT; b) to study the dynamics of infestation of Planococcus citri in the varieties Catimor and Sarchimor, under greenhouse conditions; c) to compare the colonization rate and development of P. citri in two coffee genotypes, one resistant to coffee leaf rust (Catimor CIFC 45) and one susceptible (Caturra vermelho CIFC 19/1). Two species of mealybugs were identified, Phenacoccus madeirensis and P. citri. The variety Catimor was the most susceptible to P. citri. No significant differences were observed in the development time of P, citri among the studied varieties. Nevertheless, the rate of colonization by mealybugs was higher in Caturra CIFC 19/
