Seasonal and spatial population loads of a tropical insect: the case of the coffee leaf‐miner in Mexico

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Abstract
The effect of weather fluctuations in a tropical rain forest upon a leaf‐miner (the coffee leaf‐miner Leucoptera coffeella Guerin‐Meneville (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae)) was studied in Veracruz, Mexico. The combined effect of temperature and precipitation upon the leaf‐miner populations was investigated in coffee plantations located along an elevation transect and throughout the annual seasons. The effect of plant diversity, displayed by the presence or absence of shade trees in coffee plantations, upon the population loads of the leaf‐miner was also investigated. The leaf‐miner population increased significantly during the period of intermediate temperature and low precipitation (spring season). Elevation also affected the population load of the insect: leaf‐miner populations were larger at low elevations (where temperatures are high and precipitation low) than at high elevations. Plant structural diversity did not affect the population loads of the leaf‐miner. The results indicate that the direct and indirect effects of temperature and precipitation are significant factors in the population dynamics of the coffee leafminer. It is suggested that even moderate fluctuations in climatic conditions in tropical and subtropical regions may also play an important role in the dynamics of tropical insect populations, similar to that found in temperate zones where climatic fluctuations are extreme.