Climatic factors and Euplatypus parallelus populations in teak plantations in the Amazon biome.

Damage caused by insect pests, such as the ambrosia beetle Euplatypus parallelus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is important to forest plantations, like teak. This beetle bores galleries into the trunk of Tectona grandis, where it cultivates symbiotic fungi and staining the wood. However, the effects of climatic factors on its populations are poorly understood. This study aimed to correlate the occurrence of E. parallelus with climatic factors in a 258.09 ha T. grandis plantation, established in October 2014, in São José dos Quatro Marcos (MT), Brazil. Ethanol-baited traps were systematically installed to monitor the pest. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) with negative binomial distribution were used to analyze the relationship between the number of insects collected and environmental variables. Precipitation and temperature were significant and included in the final model, unlike distance from traps to native vegetation, wind speed, relative humidity, and solar radiation. The abundance of E. parallelus increased with rising maximum and medium temperature and precipitation. The results indicate that temperature and precipitation are critical factors for predicting outbreaks of E. parallelus and should therefore be incorporated into monitoring and IPM programs. Including these variables strengthens the identification of critical sampling periods, the strategic placement of traps, and the calibration of action thresholds. It also guides climate-sensitive silvicultural practices and management guidelines, particularly in the context of ongoing climate change.