For many years, research about social wasps in the Northeast was neglected due to its climatic and vegetative characteristics, insufficient incentive for training researchers to study these animals and perpetuation of low diversity of these groups in arid environments proposed by Ducke. This study carried out a bibliographic survey of research about social wasps in a 40 years period from January/1979 to December/2019, to determine the overall reality of biodiversity and richness knowledge for social wasps species. One hundred and twenty-four (124) social wasp species have been registered in the Northeast Region, distributed among 20 genera. Epiponini stands out with 84 species, followed by Mischocyttarini (24) and Polistini (16). Sergipe is the only state with no studies and records of species thus far. Such results show the importance of continuing taxonomic studies of these insects to expand their geographic distribution and to determine areas for environmental preservation in the Northeastern biomes, i.e., the Caatinga sensu lato, Cerrado and Amazon rainforest and their transition zones, as they have been insufficiently studied and present high potential for new discoveries. We suggest Alagoas, Ceará, Pernambuco and, especially Sergipe as priority areas since there is a lacking data in these states. Finally, we recommend continuing research on species reports in states like Bahia, using the map created herein to choose future study areas.
Chagas disease is an important endemic morbidity in Latin America affecting millions of people in the American continent. It is caused by the protozoan
Trypanosoma cruzi
, and transmitted through the feces of the insect vector belonging to the subfamily Triatominae. The present conducted an entomological survey of triatomines and analyzed entomological indicators, such as the rate of infestation, colonization, triatomine density and natural infection in rural communities in the municipality of Campinas do Piaui, Piaui State, in the Northeast region of Brazil. Data on the search of triatomines performed in 167 domiciliary units (DUs), harvested during the period of February to July 2019, in 12 rural communities were analyzed. The capture of triatomines occurred in all studied communities, being 76 the number of positive DUs, of the 167 surveyed, presenting a global rate of infestation of 45.51%. Two triatomines species were collected:
Triatoma brasiliensis
(98.49%) and
T. pseudomaculata
(1.51%), the first was found in the domiciliary and peridomiciliary areas, while the second was captured only in peridomiciliary areas. The index of colonization was 17.1%. Natural infection was observed only in 5.44% of
T. brasiliensis
samples. The entomological survey was conducted in rural communities, showingthe risk of transmission of Chagas disease to the local population, requiring continuous entomological surveillance and vector control.
Objectives
This manuscript aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Chagas’s disease in the population of rural communities at Campinas do Piauí city, State of Piauí, Brazil.
Methods
The techniques of the indirect immunofluorescence reaction and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay were used to detect reagent samples for Chagas disease and estimate its prevalence in the rural population. Blood samples were collected on filter paper through digital and venipuncture. Blood samples with reactive or indeterminate results were re‐evaluated and subjected to the test by ELISA.
Results
In total, 763 blood samples were analysed from 161 residences of 18 rural communities, collected in residents aged between 2 and 92 years. In the indirect immunofluorescence reaction technique, 44 (5.8%) of the results were positive, being 40 (5.2%) confirmed by the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Among the communities surveyed, we observed reactive cases in 15 of them, these cases being distributed, according to the age group, as follows: 1 case from 0 to 10 years; 13 cases from 11 to 60 years old; and 30 cases over 61 years.
Conclusion
The results indicate that Chagas’s disease remains with active transmission in the Campinas do Piaui city according to the occurrence of a case in a resident under 10 years of age. The region is endemic for Chagas’s disease, as observed by the high prevalence of positive cases.
Social wasps are recognized for their important role as controllers of agricultural and urban pests and for their preference for preying on caterpillars. The present work describes, for the first time, the record of the social wasp Chartergellus communis Richards, 1978 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) preying on Cicinnus callipius Schaus, 1928 (Lepidoptera: Mimallonidae), a defoliator caterpillar, pest of cashew trees. The record took place in a fragment of Semideciduous Seasonal Forest in the municipality of Altos, Piauí, Brazil, close to a cashew plantation. Since wasps can travel up to 300 m in search of prey, the conservation of colonies close to cultivation areas is of paramount importance. For this, environmental education actions are necessary in order to promote the awareness of the population and, mainly, of the producers and workers of the plantations.
Studies of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) in Piauí State are scarce and only two have been carried out. Due to the lack of studies, we surveyed the wasp species in the Zoobotanical State Park in the urban area of Teresina, Piauí, Brazil. From December 2017 to May 2018, 10 expeditions were carried out using active collection with entomological nets and attractive traps with guava juice. A total of 282 individuals were collected distributed in six genera and 12 species. Parachartergus fraternus Gribodo, 1892 and Synoeca surinama (Linnaeus, 1767) are new records for Piauí, which now has 12 genera and 24 species registered for the state. Such data reveals the need to continue studying Polistinae in Piauí, in order to determine their real species distributions, help conserve natural areas and accurately manage these sites.
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