A diversified Lepidoptera fauna is found associated with Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil. From October 1990 to September 1991 twelve light traps were used in three regions of the Cerrado area with Eucalyptus plantations (Bom Despacho - BD, Três Marias - TM and Montes Claros - MC), in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Twenty three Lepidoptera defoliator species were found in those regions. These species were affected by many factors, specially the plantation stage, the neighboring plant species, the type of brush vegetation and the species of Eucalyptus planted in a specific area. The saniples were not significantly different between regions in species richness (12 to 17 species; p=0.065) or eveness (0.53 to 0.70; p=0.779) in a randomized ANOVA test. Assuming a relation between the diversity and the vulnerability to pest outbreaks, it is sugested that the sampling points are equally vunerable. A cluster analysis revealed a clear separation between regions based in their species abundance and composition. In each region it is possible to show subsets of saniples fornied by the Eucalyptus species (MC) or the effect ofthe nearby regeneration áreas (TM). These differences suggest a species substitution process that do not alter the fixed community strueture shared by each region.
Lepidoptera; Eucalyptus; faunistic diversity