FAUNISTIC ANALYSIS AND SEASONAL FLUCTUATION OF LADYBEETLES IN AN AGRO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM INSTALLED FOR ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION Thiago Sampaio de SOUZA1 , Elen de Lima AGUIAR-MENEZES2 , José Guilherme Marinho GUERRA3 , Vinicius José FERNANDES1 , Aline Gomes PIMENTA4 , Carlos Antonio Alves dos SANTOS5 1 Postgraduate Program in Crop Science, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 2 Department of Entomology and Phytopathology, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 3 Embrapa Agrobiology, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 4 Institute of Agronomy, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 5 Forestry Institute, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Corresponding author: Thiago Sampaio de Souza Email:
[email protected] How to cite: SOUZA, T.S., et al. Faunistic analysis and seasonal fluctuation of ladybeetles in an agro-ecological system installed for organic vegetable production. Bioscience Journal. 2021, 37, e37016. https://doi.org/10.14393/BJ-v37n0a2021-53540 Abstract Plans for an agro-ecological system for agricultural production must consider vegetal diversification in agricultural properties because, among other advantages, it can help the biological control of pests when it focuses on such an end. Predator ladybeetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) can be found in different environments; they play an important role in biological control. The aims of the present study were to feature ladybeetle populations through faunistic analysis and determine their fluctuations in an agro- ecological system comprising seven sub-systems subjected to different cultivation systems in Seropédica County, RJ. The experiment was conducted from December/2018 to December/2019 at Módulo de Cultivo Orgânico Intensivo de Hortaliças (MCOIH), which is located at Sistema Integrado de Produção Agroecológica (SIPA).