Neotropical Entomology 36(5): 685-692 (2007) Diversidade de Vespas Sociais (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) nos Cerrados de Uberlândia, MG RESUMO -Estudos de levantamento de espécies são importantes para o conhecimento dos recursos naturais além de contribuírem com informações de características ecológicas de uma determinada região. Não há estudos dessa natureza abordando vespas sociais no Triângulo Mineiro. O presente estudo investiga a diversidade das espécies encontradas em fragmentos de cerrado em Uberlândia, MG, e sua distribuição temporal. O trabalho de campo foi conduzido de outubro de 2003 a setembro de 2004, realizando-se 43 amostragens utilizando as metodologias de busca ativa e amostragem pontual. Foram encontradas 29 espécies em 10 gêneros, destacando-se Polybia e Polistes com 51,7% dos espécimes coletados. Mischocyttarus cerberus styx Richards representou 26,5% do total de indivíduos registrados para busca ativa e Agelaia pallipes (Olivier) correspondeu a 57,6% para amostragem pontual. Duas espécies apresentaram primeiro registro para Minas Gerais: Polybia striata (Fabricius) e M. cerberus styx. Os fragmentos estudados apresentaram elevado índice de diversidade (H' = 0,66 a 1,16), grande quantidade de espécies raras e poucas espécies comuns. O método de amostragem pontual foi satisfatório para coletar as espécies mais comuns enquanto a busca ativa foi importante para a coleta de espécies pontual, embora algumas espécies só tenham sido coletadas pelo método de amostragem pontual. Esses fatores revelaram que para efetuar um levantamento de vespas uma combinação de diferentes metodologias de coleta parece ser o mais indicado. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Vespa enxameante, método de amostragem, inventárioABSTRACT -Sudies of species survey are important to know the available natural resources and to this issue, related to social wasps, in the Triângulo Mineiro region. The present study describes the diversity of species found in fragments of the cerrado region in Uberlândia, MG, and their temporal were carried out using active searching (24) and point sampling (19) methodologies. Twenty-nine species were found in 10 genera, Polybia and Polistes corresponding to 51.5% of the total listing. Mischocyttarus cerberus styx Richards represented 26.5% of the total individuals recorded by active searching and Agelaia pallipes (Olivier) corresponded to 57.6% by point sampling. Two species Polybia striata (Fabricius) and M. cerberus styx. The studied fragments presented a high level of diversity (H' = 0.66 to 1.16), a large number of rare species and a few common species. To collect the more common species the point sampling method was satisfactory while active searching was better to collect the rarer species. The active searching by point sampling. These factors showed that in order to carry out a wasp survey, a combination of different collection methodologies seems to be more appropriate.

In this study, we provide an ethogram for the harvestman Ilhaia cuspidata and describe the daily activity pattern of captive individuals. We also provide a comparison between the behavioral repertory of this species with that of the syntopic Discocyrtus oliverioi. Five females and four males of /. cuspidata were maintained in the same terrarium from November 1999-November 2000 for qualitative and quantitative observations. Twenty behavioral acts were recorded, classified in seven categories and the relative frequency of each was determined: exploration (69.8%), resting (16.7%), feeding (6.3%), grooming (4.4%), social interactions (2.6%), reproduction (0.1%) and others (0.3%). There was a marked difference in the frequency of the behavioral categories between sexes: females fed more frequently than males and males were involved in social interactions more frequently than females. During most of the daylight hours, individuals remained inside shelters and became active from 19:00-09:00 h. Although I. cuspidata and D. oliverioi showed almost the same behavioral acts, there were quantitative differences in their repertories: the relative frequency of behavioral categories "resting" and "social interactions" were higher for /. cuspidata whereas "reproduction" and "grooming" were higher for D. oliverioi. The main qualitative difference between these two species was related to the forms of parental care: females of D. oliverioi guard their eggs and first instar juveniles, whereas females of I. cuspidata scatter their eggs in time and space and do not actively protect their offspring. Since both species share the same habitats (sometimes in multi-species aggregations), the behavioral differences between them may be explained by particular morphological and physiological characteristics of the species, as well as by phylogenetic constraints.

ABSTRACT. The survival of social wasp species depends on the success in founding new nests. These species can use plant species with different specific characteristics for nesting, with nest architecture varying according to the habits of those plant species. The nesting of social wasps in natural environments was studied in the period from October 2005 to September 2007 in the rio das Mortes riparian forest, municipal district of Barroso, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, with the objective of evaluating the different types of plant substrate used by social wasps for nesting, and to investigate whether there is a relationship between nest construction type and the habits of plant species. A total of 171 colonies of social wasps belonging to 29 species were recorded, which used 78 plant species as nesting substrate (76 Angiosperms and two Pteridophytes) of arbustive, herbaceous, arboreal, epiphyte and liana habits. Species with phragmocyttarus and gymnodomous nests were observed nesting, with higher incidence, in arboreal plants and their deciduousness did not affect the nesting. The preservation of natural areas is suggested in order to guarantee a higher availability of nesting places for the social wasp species, ensuring their higher efficiency in the environmental services and biological control of agricultural pests.

Of the 15 species of passion vines recorded for the Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, nine are used by Heliconius erato phyllis (Fabricius, 1775). The larvae of this species feed preferentially on Passiflora misera H.B.K., which confers greater performance despite presenting smaller amounts of nutrients than other host plants. Thus, the performance associated with the consumption of a passion vine is possibly related not only to its nutritional content but also to the morphological and behavioral mechanisms involved in the feeding. In this study, the difficulties in accessing food imposed by the hosts (P. misera, Passiflora suberosa L., Passiflora caerulea L., Passiflora edulis Sims, and Passiflora alata Dryand.) were evaluated. Focal observations were performed every 2 min during 6-h sessions (sequential sampling), and the relative time spent for different behaviors (resting, feeding, walking, tasting, and vein cutting) was quantified on both young and old leaves. Larvae devoted more time feeding on P. misera in most cases. Larvae observed on P. alata devoted more to time resting and less time feeding, performing one or two meals of small duration, every 6 h. First instar caterpillars on old leaves of P. suberosa and P. caerulea spent more time walking, searching for a favorable feeding site. The hardness of leaves may be a limiting factor for the initial instars in this heliconian.