High Number of Species of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) Attests the Great Biodiversity of Western Amazon: a Survey from Rondônia, Brazil.

Abstract

A survey of social wasps (Vespidae, Polistinae), common insects of Neotropical fauna, which performs a great variety of important ecosystemic services, was conducted for the first time in areas of the Amazon forest in Rondônia state. The state is part of the western Amazon, a region harboring high biodiversity, but which has been suffering from constant deforestation. Three areas were sampled, and the wasps were actively collected, and an attractive liquid was sprayed onto the vegetation to bait the wasps. A total of 2961 wasps were sampled in all three areas, distributed in 72 species of 15 genera. Thirty-nine species were recorded for the first time in the state and three others (Agelaia melanopyga Cooper, Brachygastra cooperiAndena and Carpenter and Polybia diguetana du Buysson)represents the first record for Brazil.AgelaiaLepeletier was the most abundant genus in all areas, which is congruent with results of other surveys, and the greatest species richness was found for Polybia Lepeletier. The highest number of species was sampled in Floresta Nacional do Jamari (51), followed by Estação Ecológica de Cuniã (46) and forest fragment of Universidade Federal de Rondônia (39). The latter also presented the highest number of different genera sampled. The great diversity sampled, mainly for Epiponini, which represented 64 of the 72 species collected, can be attributed to various factor as the location of the areas and also to the methodology used.

Keywords

• Epiponini
• new records
• rainforest
• social insects
• swarm-founding wasps