Testes preliminares em frutos destacados de cafeeiro para desenvolvimento de técnicas de criação da broca do cafeeiro

Coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) is a pest difficult to control in the field. Its rearing under laboratory conditions is essential to support research related to its biological cycle, behavior, and management strategies, especially in the context of biological control and development of new sustainable technologies. However, one of the main obstacles to the continuous laboratory rearing of this pest is the difficulty in obtaining and preserving coffee fruits, which are highly perishable and influenced by seasonality. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using frozen and fresh fruits, with different coatings (beeswax, paraffin, and no coating), as a substrate for rearing Hypothenemus hampei under laboratory conditions. The experiment was conducted at IFMG – Campus Bambuí, using fruits from the Rubi cultivar (Coffea arabica), divided into six treatments with five replicates each, and stored for 76 days. During this period, periodic weighings were performed to monitor the fruit mass loss, which is a direct indicator of their integrity and potential to sustain pest. Results showed that frozen fruits had the highest weight losses, even when coated, indicating that freezing compromises the physical structure and viability of the fruit as a host. In contrast, fresh fruits, especially those coated with beeswax, better preserved their physical integrity and recorded the lowest loss percentages. Therefore, it is concluded that the use of fresh fruits coated with beeswax is the most efficient alternative for the laboratory rearing of Hypothenemus hampei, promoting the continuity of experimental work and contributing to advances in pest management.