SPATIAL DISTRIBUITION OF ANTICARSIA GEMMATALIS HÜBNER, 1818 (LEPIDOPTERA: EREBIDAE) IN SOYBEAN USING GEOSTATISTICS

Soybeans are one of the most important crops in Brazil, accounting for an estimated planted area of ​​around 47.61 million hectares in 2024/2025. Among the pests affecting this crop, the velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner, 1818 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), stands out due to its potential to cause up to 100% defoliation. This study aimed to evaluate the spatial distribution of the velvetbean caterpillar using geostatistical methods. The experiment was conducted with the soybean cultivar M 7908 RR1 during the 2014/2015 growing season in an 8,000 m² area, divided into 80 plots of 100 m² each. In each sampling unit (100 m²), five points were randomly selected, and the number of small, medium, and large caterpillars was counted. The semivariogram models fitted to the data demonstrated that the pest occurs in an aggregated pattern in the field, with a spatial dependence range varying from 7 to 55.42 meters.