POPULATION STRUCTURE OF RODENTS PEST OF SUGAR CANE (Saccharum spp.) IN CHONTALPA, TABASCO, MEXICO

Abstract

study was carried out during 13 months regarding the population structure of Sigmodon toltecus and Oryzomys couesi, pest rodents in sugar cane (Saccharum spp.) cultivation in La Chontalpa, Tabasco, México, using snap traps in a sugar cane plantation and adjacent pasture used for cattle raising (18° 05’ 25’’ N, 93° 40’ 43’’ W). The study was developed for a year (2013-2014) beginning in September. Information was obtained about the number of males with scrotum testes, males with abdominal testes, reproductive and non-reproductive females, and number of embryos. The results were variable, but in general it was observed that the captures of individuals and records of S. toltecus embryos was higher than those of O. couesi, both in the sugar cane crop and in the adjoining pasture; likewise, there was a tendency to capture and record a higher number of individuals and embryos of both species of rodents during the period of September 2013 to March 2014, coinciding with an advance age of the sugar cane crop.