The social wasp community (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in an area of Atlantic Forest, Ubatuba, Brazil

By

Togni, Olga Coutinho
Locher, Gabriela De Almeida
Giannotti, Edilberto
Silveira, Orlando Tobias

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2014-2-1

Original Publication

Check list : journal of species lists and distribution

Volume

10

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

10--17

Subjects

Atlantic forest , Hymenoptera , Polistinae , Vespidae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

[São Paulo, Brazil] Luís Felipe Toledo 2005-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15560/10.1.10

 

Abstract

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is of great relevance to biological conservation, and is among the areas in South America with the highest levels of diversity and endemism. The aim of this study was to survey the social wasp species in the subfamily Polistinae in Ubatuba, São Paulo state, in southwestern Brazil. Collecting work was conducted from May 2007 to May 2008 using attractive PET bottle traps and active searching. Twenty-one species belonging to eight genera were found, among which some may be considered rare in southeastern Brazil such as Mischocyttarus parallelogrammus and Polybia catillifex. The most abundant species were Agelaia angulata (64.31%), Agelaia nr. centralis (10.08%) and Angiopolybia pallens (8.49%). A correlation between species richness and relative humidity (r = 0.6435; p = 0.0176) was observed. Values of species richness were a little higher in the super humid (Sm = 11) than in the less humid (Sm = 9) season. This suggests that this season may have more favorable environmental conditions for a greater richness of species to found colonies. Despite not having a very high species richness compared with other surveys, the collected species in this study can be considered rare in southeastern Brazil, emphasizing the complexity of the Atlantic Forest biome and its relation to the diversity of wasps.