The Social Wasp Fauna of a Riparian Forest in Southeastern Brazil (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Abstract

An inventory of social wasps was made in a section of riparian forest along the Passa-Cinco River in Ipeúna, São Paulo, Brazil. Two active collecting methods (active collecting and point sampling using a liquid bait) and one passive method (baited PET bottle trap) were used. Thirty-one species belonging to eight genera were recorded; the most abundant were Agelaia vicina and Agelaia pallipes, species belonging to the tribe Epiponini which was dominant in the sample. In the State of São Paulo, a local richness greater than the one sampled in Ipeúna was only reported for Rio Claro city. Regarding sampling methods, active collecting obtained the greatest richness value and also presented the largest number of exclusive species to a given method; however, for the other methods as well, exclusive species were also obtained.

Keywords

• Diversity
• richness
• abundance
• Polistinae
• attractive traps
• active sampling