The order Odonata (Insecta) is composed of aquatic insects popularly known as dragonflies and damselflies. Members of this order are closely linked to the conservation status of their habitats; however, the Wallacean shortfall in some regions still remains high. The Volta Grande do Xingu region is known to have high endemism of some groups, such as Actinopterygii (fish), which can be applied to other groups that do not yet have their fauna known at the site, such as the order Odonata. The Wallacean shortfall and constant anthropic changes (for example, the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric) have been obstacles in the preservation of these and other groups. In that regard, the main aim of this paper is to provide a checklist of Odonata (Insecta) adult species from the streams of Volta Grande do Xingu, Pará, Brazil. The collections were carried out in 19 streams in the Volta Grande do Xingu region in September 2019, corresponding to the drought period. A total of 526 specimens were collected, where two suborders, six families, 26 genera and 43 species were identified. Three species of Odonata were registered for the first time in the state of Pará: Erythrodiplax famula (Erichson in Schomburgk, 1848); Acanthagrion chacoense Calvert, 1909 and Epipleoneura lamina Williamson, 1915. These data allow us to help increase the knowledge of Odonata fauna in the streams of Volta Grande do Xingu, a region that is under intense anthropic pressure. This helps to reduce the Wallacean shortfall, with another area sampled for the state of Pará.
The modification of landscapes surrounding water bodies leads to changes in limnological characteristics and decreased aquatic biodiversity, such as fish and macroinvertebrates. Aquatic insects are sensitive to changes in aquatic ecosystems and quickly respond to those changes. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the relationship between the compositions of aquatic and semi-aquatic Heteroptera with environmental variables along an environmental gradient in streams at the headwaters of the Xingu River, Brazil. We collected samples from 12 streams belonging to the Suiá-Miçú river basin and tributaries of the Xingu River, in September (dry season), 2008. The Suiá-Miçú river is one of the tributaries on the right bank of the Xingu River, and it is located in the ecotone between the Cerrado and the Amazon rainforest in the area characterized as the “arc of deforestation’’. Insects were sampled in fixed 100 m transections and divided into 20 segments of 5 meters each. To assess the habitat integrity in each stream, the habitat integrity index (HII) was applied. The following environmental variables were measured: electrical conductivity, turbidity, depth, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The ordering of species composition was performed with the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), and the relationship between environmental variables and composition was performed using a Mantel test. Of the 263 individuals collected, distributed in 8 families, there were 20 genera, of these, 12 were from Nepomorpha and 8 from Gerromorpha. The most abundant genera were Limnocoris (n = 121) and Rhagovelia (n = 32). Naucoridae was the most diverse family. Together, the environmental variables explained ~50% of the species distribution (r = 0.49; p = 0.001). These results reinforce the efficacy of aquatic Heteroptera to monitor environmental conditions. Here, in particular, the responses of this group to variations in landscape metrics, environmental integrity, and water variables together demonstrate that it can be useful to indicate the quality of habitat in streams.
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