The lacewings appear in many agroecosystems, preying several species of agricultural pests. They have great search capability, high voracity, high reproductive potential and are easily maintained in laboratory conditions. In laboratory rearing, to avoid problems in the mass production are recommended adjustments in the type and quality of prey to be used in order to obtain individuals with desirable characteristics. It is necessary special care with the laboratory populations, avoiding problems from inbreeding. Larvae were reared individually in Petri dishes (9.0 cm diameter) and fed with eggs of Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier, 1789) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), in the amount of 25 mg / larva, while the adults were kept in PVC cylindrical cages (10 cm x 30 cm). Thus, the study analyzed the influence of the size of the population of Chrysoperla externa (Hagen, 1861) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) on the pre-imaginal period (egg to adult) and reproductive capacity of this specie come from different populations and generations of laboratory. To this end, we used two populations, one of Jaboticabal (F8 and F21) and one of Piracicaba (F6 and F15), and subpopulations of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 couples, analyzing the incubation of eggs and the number of eggs per female in each population, generation and subpopulation. The pre-imaginal period (egg to adult) and the number of eggs per female of C. externa are influenced by the generation and the number of founding individuals, being these parameters favored when laboratory populations are established with the largest number of couples.

This paper aimed to investigate the dynamic of energy balance components over Orós reservoir and neighboring areas using Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) and TM-Landsat 5 images. Also, the relation among albedo, NDVI, net radiation, sensible and latent heats and soil heat flux were analysed. The studied land uses were: Dense vegetation, irrigation fields and degraded areas (human activities). Eight images of 217/64, orbital/point, for the following data: 08/24/1992, 08/14/1994, 07/02/1996, 07/11/1999, 08/17/2001, 07/06/2003, 07/14/2006 e 08/20/2008 were used. The images were processed using the software Erdas IMAGINE using 9.0IMAGE. The SEBAL algorithm was applied to quantify the latent heat flux from the surface energy balance, which is composed of net radiation (Rn), soil heat flux (G) and sensible heat flux (H). The energy in form of sensible and latent heat showed similar tendencies for irrigated fields and dense native vegetation. The highest increase of sensible heat was registered on the degraded areas (human activities) in the last three years. All of the components of the energy balance presented distinct tendencies over the studied land use, expressing that the energy balance can be used to identify the changes on the land use pattern.

The shortage of animal feed during the dry season has led to the development of food handling techniques that are efficient and sustainable for farmers and ranchers. The research aimed to evaluate the chemical composition, voluntary intake and digestibility of faveleira (Cnidoscolus phyllacanthus (Muell. Arg.) Pax et K. Hoffman), to supply the sheep provided as in the form of hay. Five castrated 18 months old sheeps with a mean age of 18 months old with and initial average weight of 31.75 kg ± 1.08 were evaluated, using the conventional method of total collection of feces. The hay was made naturally in sunny area, the forage being harvested in areas of caatinga at the IPA¿s Sertânia Experimental Station belonging to the Agronomic Institute of Pernambuco/IPA. The faveleira hay results of chemical analysis percentages were: 92.95 dry matter (DM); 89.28 organic matter (OM); 13.48 crude protein (CP); 3.52 ether extract (EE); 41.42 does not extract nitrogen (NEN); 41.92 neutral detergent fiber (NDF); 26.71 acid detergent fiber (ADF) and 30.36 non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC). The voluntary intake of DM, CP, TDN, NDF, ADF and NFC, expressed in g kg-1 PV0, 75 were (93.14, 12.52, 56.06, 39.04; 24.88 and 28.28), respectively. The digestibility percentages were: 63.66 (MS); 66.06 (MO); 74.52 (PB); 36.44 (EE); 74.32 (ENN); 57.32 (NDF); 54.77 (FDA) and 56.91 (NFC). These results show that the faveleira hay could be a viable alternative to dietary supplementation of sheep during the dry season to semiarid of Brazil.

Banana crop is one of the most cultivated fruit in the Northeast of Brazil, but it requires a considerable amount of water during its cycle making it essential the appropriate management of irrigation in order to optimize the water use. Thus, aimed to study the effect of water levels on growth, productivity and water use efficiency of banana cv. Nanicão in the second cycle. The research was carried out at the Campus IV of Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, located in Catolé do Rocha, PB, under field conditions, in a block randomized design with five irrigation levels (55%, 77.5%, 100%, 122.5% and 145% ETo) and four replications. Four plants were used per plot, spaced of 3 m x 3 m and irrigated by a drip system. Height, stem diameter and leaf area were evaluated every two weeks. It was determined in the harvest, the bunch weight, number of hands, fruits per bunch, weight and number of fruits of the second hand, length and diameter of three median fruits of the second hand and the productivity and water use efficiency were also estimated. Irrigation based on 145% of ETo provided higher increase on growth and productivity, but did not different significantly from results obtained when was applied 122,5% of ETo. Maximum water use efficiency was obtained with application of the lower water level.

The growth retardants Paclobutrazol (PBZ) and Cycocel (CCC) had been used, in spraying, associates or not with two cytokinins: Benziladenina (BAP) and Thidiazuron (TDZ), and a nitrogenous base, the Uracil, with the purpose of studying its effect in the bud fertility of the 'Superior Seedless', grafted on the 'Harmony' and IAC-766 'Campinas', and of the 'Crimson Seedless' and 'Thompson Seedless', grafted on the 'Harmony', in the conditions of the São Francisco Valley, Brazil. It was observed that the separately use of the products had not promoted significant differences in the studied of the bud fertility, but, the association of the growth retardants with the TDZ it induce the 'Thompson Seedless' to a bigger productivity, and that the expression of the bud fertility of the 'Seedless Superior' benefits on to being grafted on the 'Harmony' rootstock.

This paper aimed to evaluate the use of cactus pear as the main substrate for the production of amiloglucosidase by solid state fermentation with the aid of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. The experiments were conducted at the Laboratory of Agro-industrial wastes at the State University of Southwest Bahia - UESB. The cactus pear was dried up to about 2% moisture. The variables in the fermentation process were water activity (0.891, 0.964, 0.976 and 0.983) and fermentation time (24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h and 120 h). The results showed high enzyme production by the third day of fermentation, irrespective of water activity in all trials, after the fermentation time reduction of enzyme activity was observed, with the highest activity was 60.32 U/g in 72 hours and the water activity of 0.891. During the fermentation process the fungus synthesized and excreted the enzyme without the need for any other inducer addition to forage cactus and water, thus demonstrating the viability of using the palm as raw materials for bioprocesses.

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the shelf-life of five yellow melon hybrids (AF-5107, AF6742, AF-9136, AF and AF-6798-7719) produced in the Mossoró-Assu agropole. The yellow melon hybrids were grown in soil fertilized and irrigated following the demand of culture. Reaching the stage of commercial maturity, fruit were harvested and brought to the Postharvest Laboratory at the Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-árido, where were taken12 fruits at random for characterization of each hybrid at time zero. Afterwards the other fruits were weighed, identified and stored in cold room regulated at 10 ± 1 ºC and 90 ± 2% RH, where they remained for 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49 days. At each time interval, the following analyses were realized: mass loss, external and internal appearance, pulp firmness and soluble solids. The experimental design was completely randomized in factorial scheme 5 x 7, five hybrids and seven periods of storage. We used four replications, and the experimental unit consists of three fruits. There was significant interaction between hybrid and storage period only for the soluble solids. For the other characteristics evaluated, we observed the isolated effect of the main factors. The hybrid AF-9136 stood out compared to other hybrids tested by greater pulp firmness and soluble solids.

This paper aims to evaluate the quality of yellow mombin fruit in different maturation stages from clones cultivated in Ceará - CE. For that 'Capuan', 'Lagoa Redonda', 'Genipabu' and 'Gereau' clones was harvested, at different maturation stages, being: 1 (green fruit), 2 (25% to 50% of yellow skin), 3 (75% of yellow skin) and 4 (100% of yellow skin). The fruits were transported to the laboratory of Chemistry of IFCE Campus Limoeiro do Norte - CE, and then were made a selection and the classification of maturity stages by skin color. The experiment was conducted with four treatments (maturation stages) with five replications each consisting of 10 fruits. It was evaluated soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C and Ratio. To the physical parameters, was using only yellow mombin of 3rd stage, and was evaluated weight, length diameter of fruit. The clones presented differences physico-chemical. The 'Gereau' clone had the highest soluble solids. In the stage 4, independent of the clone, was verifying the higher soluble solids content and lower acidity, thus presenting, higher condition of acceptability by consumers and the industry, and the point of harvest more appropriate.

The viruses from the genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae are considered emergent pathogens, mainly because of the population explosion of their insect vectors. For this reason, more attention needs to be directed to the correct virus species identification inside the genus. The present paper had the objectives of serologically detecting a begomovirus in Macroptilium lathyroides plants in the State of Ceará, and developing biological, serological and molecular studies with a virus isolate obtained from M. lathyroides. Indirect ELISA with antiserum for Macroptilium golden mosaic virus (MaGMV) demonstrated that the samples collected from M. lathyroides showing golden mosaic in the field were infected with a begomovirus. The virus isolate obtained was transmitted by grafting to eight species of the family Leguminosae, four species of Solonaceae, and one species in the family Amaranthaceae. The virus also was transmitted from M. lathyroides to M. lathyroides by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci biotype B. A DNA fragment of 1.2 kb was obtained by PCR with the primers PAL1v 1978 and PAR1c 496 for component A, and a DNA fragment of 0.5 kb was obtained with the primers PBL1v 2040 and PCR cl for component B, confirming the presence of a begomovirus infecting M. lathyroides. Molecular studies indicated that the begomovirus isolate showed 77% genomic similarity with Bean golden mosaic virus and 75% with Cowpea golden mosaic virus for their cp and rep genes, indicating the possibility that the isolate is a distinct virus species of the Begomovirus genus.

The objective was to evaluate the effect of the biochar as a substrate conditioner for the production of eucalyptus seedlings. The work was lead in nursery and the experimental design was randomized blocks arranged in factorial 5 x 2, being the factors composed of five concentrations of biochar (0; 7.5; 15; 30 and 60% v/v) added to the Germinar® commercial substrate and two species of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora and Eucalyptus urophylla), with four repetitions. At 75, 90 and 120 days after sowing (DAS) evaluated the stem diameter and plant height and at the end of the experiment (120 DAS) assessed fresh biomass of shoot and root, dry mass of shoot and root morphological parameters relative the plant height/stem diameter, dry mass of shoot/dry mass of roots and index of quality of Dickson. In general, the substrates that was added 7.5% of biochar promoted greater growth of seedlings, especially E. citriodora showed the best results for the evaluated characteristics. Evaluating the morphological parameters that act as key components in the quality of seedlings E. citriodora was superiors than E. urophylla. Concentrations of biochar above 30% harm the development of seedlings.