This paper aimed to verify the presence of black-fly of citrus in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil and wordwide. The material with symptoms were collected in the metropolitan area of Recife/PE and subsequently led to the identification in the Insect Biology Laboratory of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco - UFRPE on February 4, 2011. The samples collected from the branches of citrus and bilocular, found the presence of eggs, nymphs, "pupae" and adults of Aleurocanthus woglumi, confirming its occurrence in the state of Pernambuco. The presence of blackfly of citrus had been detected in the city in the state of Pernambuco as Timbaúba, Bom Jardim, Macaparana, Axes, Orobo, São Vincent Farrer and Itambé in citrus plants. Before that had a suspect in the Valley Siriji/PE, now it is in the metropolitan area of Recife, therefore we can confirm that the material collected and identified in the metropolitan area of Pernambuco is A. woglumi.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate biochemical activities related to promotion of plant growth of isolates of the genus Bacillus originated from areas under maize cultivation, and to evaluate the genetic similarity among the isolates using PCR-based RAPD markers. Several strains of the genera Bacillus were isolated from twenty distinct maize production areas of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Forty isolates were obtained and characterized as antagonistic to plant pathogenic fungi, production of auxin (IAA), phosphate solubilization in vitro and root colonization. The potential for phosphate solubilization was not identified in any of the isolates. In addition, the majority of the isolates did not show any antagonistic effect against Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum truncatum. Based on root colonization, six Bacillus isolates were selected to evaluate their growth-promotion activities in maize. All the six isolates increased root growth, while only one isolate did not promoted shoot growth and nutrient uptake in plants when compared to control. Low genetic similarity among the selected isolates was detected by RAPD analysis using eleven primers. Our results showed the utility of the in vitro selection criteria used in this study for screening of Bacillus sp. with plant growth-promoting activity, as they may reduce the number of Bacillus isolates required at the final screening stage in field.

The paper aimed to examine the equity investment in shrimp production, a typical farm of the western region of Rio Grande do Norte, using the following criteria for project selection: Net present value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), payback and Cost/benefit analysis (C/B). In a complementary manner it has evaluated the likelihood of change in Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return, through the risk analysis. In the risk analysis input variables (inputs) were considered: the price paid to producers per Kg of shrimp and price of Kg of ration HD-35%, which represents 36.42% of the total cost per production cycle. The selected variables or (outputs) were the Net Present Value at 12% and 6%, and the Internal Rate of Return. The results of investment analysis, without considering price risk were: R$ 214,943.93 NPV 12% NPV 300,819.13 6%, 60% IRR, payback of two years and 1,4 Interface B/C. The survey results indicate that shrimp farming represents for the rural sector of Rio Grande do Norte, a leading alternative investment, considering that the average IRR, considering the risks of price, was 35.21%, ie any other investment would only be desirable, in comparison with investment in shrimp production, if present rate of return higher than 35.21%.

The present study aimed to use DNA markers to select plants for the first and second backcross (BC) of two distinct populations of common bean, carrying the QTL for resistance to white mold and RAPD and microsatellite markers to identify the plants of the BC population more similar to their recurrent parent. For this, it was used the lines G122 (resistant - P1) as donor parent and VC3 (susceptible - P2) as recurrent parent for generation of the population F1RC1-GV evaluated for resistance to white mold by means of the SCAR Phs and genotyped with RAPD primers. In the F1RC2-EM population were used the lines Ex Rico 23 (resistant) as donor parent and M20 (susceptible) as recurrent parent evaluated for resistance to white mold, by means of RAPD primers O12.1600 and O15.1800 and genotyped with microsatellite (SSR) primers. Genetic similarity (sgij) between each BC plant and the recurrent parent was estimated using the Sorensen-Dice coefficient. The proportion of the SSR alleles derived from the recurrent parent was also estimated and, simultaneously, genetic similarity and the proportion of SSR alleles were efficient for identifying plants more similar to the recurrent parent. It was found that marker assisted selection (MAS) contributes to reducing the number of BC in at least a generation.

The family Nymphaeaceae is represented by aquatic rhizomatic herbs, rooted in the substrate, with floating long petiolate leaves. Its flowers are solitary, and anthesis can be nocturnal and diurnal, pollinated by beetles. The family has six genus, of which Nymphaea and Victoria occurs in the neotropical region. Victoria predominates in the Brazilian Amazon and Pantanal and the Nymphaea is represented by 18 species distributed throughout the country. The floristic study included the analysis of specimens collected on expeditions and materials deposited in Herbariums, in a total of 69 specimens. The identification was made by consulting specific bibliography. The information obtained enabled the preparation of an identification key, illustrations of important morphological characters, significant as evidence Taxonomy, commentaries on the geographical distribution and discussion of relevant issues to taxons identification. For the state of Ceará were found six species: N. amazonum, N. pulchella, N. Jamesoniana, N. lasiophylla, N. lingulata, N. rudgeana and N. tenerinervia. The last two populations presented only in coastal environments. N. lingulata, N. pulchella and N. Jamesoniana presented records in the arid region, in interior of the State. N. amazonum and N. lasiophylla have a wide distribution, being present in the coastal zone to the interior. N. lasiophylla was the most frequent species. Knowledge about the Flora of the State of Ceará contribute to future projects for the conservation and management of temporary and permanent aquatic environments that occur in the Brazilian semiarid.

The timbó (Magonia pubescens St. Hil.), tree typical of the cerrado, has medicinal, timber, craft, ornamental and larvicidal. The aim of this paper to evaluate seedling emergence of M. pubescens under different light conditions. The experiment was conducted in chambers B.O.D. temperature 30 °C, substrate sand, in a completely randomized design with five treatments and four replications of 50 seeds. The treatments were: 1) a photoperiod of 24 hours, 2) absence of light, 3) a photoperiod of 12 hours, 4) a photoperiod of 8 hours and 5) a photoperiod of 16 hours. The smallest percentage and emergence rate (45% and 14 days) were provided 12 h light and 12 h dark, and the emergence in all treatments was high (90 to 97.5%) and emergency speed too (7.4 to 10.5 days). The seeds of M. pubescens photoblastic are neutral in laboratory conditions at a temperature of 30 ºC and the emergence occurs between four and nine days.

Malabar spinach is a non-conventional vegetable propagated mainly by seeds. This research evaluated the propagation by stem cuttings as an alternative method of propagation and verified its effect on growth of the vegetable. Plantlets propagated by seeds and stem cuttings were grown in greenhouse and their growth were evaluated in five successive intervals of 21 days each, with the first evaluation carried out 60 days after the transplanting. The results showed that the propagation methods have influence on the Malabar spinach growth. Plants propagated by seeds display slow, but vigorous growth, with larger relative yield of leaves and tender leaves, while plants propagated by cuttings showed fast initial growth, with rapid fruit formation. Thus, the propagation by cuttings is more suitable for seed production, while propagation by seeds is more profitable for leaves production.

The net radiation is of great importance in studies related to energy and mass exchanges between the land surface and atmosphere, although it is not measured routinely in a meteorological network. In this sense, the use of satellite images over the last decade has been increasingly used for its determination. The present study aimed at determining the radiation balance in the Irrigated São Gonçalo Project - PISG and surrounding areas based on satellite images and a few meteorological data measured within the PISG. Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper images available in 2008 and procedures of SEBAL - Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land were used for mapping albedo and net radiation. Three selected areas into the study scene were used to discuss the behavior of different components of the radiation balance under different soil cover types. It was observed that the waters of São Gonçalo dam presented albedo in the range of 3.3 to 7,5%, while in the soil with low vegetation cover the albedo ranged between 32 and 38,7% over the studied period. In the irrigated coconut orchard the albedo ranged between 15.0 to 18.7%, while the net radiation values over the dam and the coconut orchard were consistently higher than those in other areas. It was concluded that the irrigated areas have lower albedo and surface temperature and thus increased net radiation, contributing to reduce the air temperature locally.

Trichogramma species are found naturally parasitizing eggs of several lepidopteran species. Among the Trichogramma species, however, there is preference for certain lepidopteran species as host. Therefore, to succeed in a biological control program using Trichogramma is recommended to seek for more related parasitoid species to the target lepidopteran pests. Four species of the parasitoid were studied: Trichogramma acacioi Brun, Moraes & Soares, Trichogramma atopovirilia Oatman & Planter, Trichogramma exiguum Pinto & Planter and Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae).Thus, this study investigated three methods of evaluating Trichogramma species parasitizing Plutella xylostella Linnaeus(Lepidoptera: Plutellidae): parasitism within 24 h period, daily parasitism rate during adult stage, and fertility life table. The parasitism within 24 h-period and the daily parasitism rate showed that T. atopovirilia and T. pretiosum. Otherwise, the fertility life table parameters showed the better performance of T. atopovirilia. Therefore, the parasitism within 24 h-period can be considered the most efficacious selection methods because requiring less time to achieve the results, however with limitations when compared with daily parasitism rate during adult stage, and fertility life table.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the wood natural resistance of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. of phenotypes (plants) with and without prickles to subterranean termite (Nasutitermes corniger Motsch.) in forced feeding and feeding preference assays, under laboratory conditions. Wood test samples measuring 2.54 x 1.50 x 0.64 cm (forced feeding) and 10.00 x 1.50 x 0.64 cm (feeding preference), with the largest measurement in the fiber direction, were obtained from three positions from pith to bark direction. The samples were exposed for 28 days (forced feeding) and 45 days (feeding preference) to Nasutitermes corniger Motsch. termites. In forced feeding assay the termites caused superficial attack in wood and lived during 8 to 10 days, thus the wood was classified as resistant. In forced feeding assay more mass loss and attack in wood of external positions to both phenotypes was observed. To the waste and survival time of termites were similar to both types. In feeding preference a larger mass loss and waste to inner position in both phenotypes was observed. In general, the plants with prickles lost more mass than the one without prickles. Therefore, the wood of plants without prickles is more suitable to be use in construction of fences, sheepfolds and other similar uses where the wood shall be subject to attack by termites.