The community of social wasps and the substrates used for nesting were studied in anthropic environments associated with areas of natural vegetation in the period of March to September of 2015. Three hundred and forty-seven (347) colonies belonging to eighteen (18) species distributed in six genera were recorded. The species with the highest number of colonies were Mischocyttarus cassununga (R. Von Ilhering, 1903) (194 colonies), Mischocyttarus cerberus (Richards, 1940) (50 colonies) and Polybia Paulista (H. Von Ilhering, 1896) (23 colonies). For other species, the record ranged from one to eighteen colonies.
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.
Social wasps play an important role within communities, in natural and agricultural ecosystems alike, by pollinating and/or preying on other organisms, especially caterpillars, revealing its potential for biological control. The objective of this paper is to inventory the existing fauna of social wasps in coffee-growing areas in Inconfidentes and Ouro Fino, southern Minas Gerais; verify the attractiveness of four baits in addition to assessing the influence of a native forest fragment on the richness and abundance of species. 3,405 specimens of social wasps were collected, representing 8 genders and 19 species. A coffee plantation associated with a forest fragment in Inconfidentes recorded the highest specific richness (S=17), abundance (N=2,656) and dominance (D= 0.4448). Genus Polybia was the most representative, with seven species (37%). Agelaia pallipes (51%) and Agelaia multipicta (15%) were the most abundant species. The rate of similarity between the areas was 65%, with 13 common species. Attractive traps are efficient to collect social wasp species, and the maintenance of areas of natural vegetation near the crops ensures greater abundance of species. However, there seems to be clear the influence of forest area on the richness, because several species of social wasps are euriécias.
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