Eastern Amazonia is an area with great biological diversity that has suffered rapid deforestation and forest fragmentation over the years. Because of the scarcity of data on the fauna and flora, the northwest of the state of Maranhão has become a priority area for studies that seek to gain a better understanding of bee fauna. Between August 2013 and December 2014, in collections at two-month intervals, a total of 1047 bees belonging to 70 species were collected using two methods (an insect net and scent-baited traps). Apinae was the most abundant subfamily and had the greatest species richness (63 species and 1039 individuals); the most notable tribes in this subfamily were Meliponini (20 species and 445 individuals) and Euglossini (24 species and 452 individuals). In all, 62.8% of the total richness was sampled with an insect net and 34.2% with bait traps. Bees were present in every collection month, and August and December were the months with the greatest richness and abundance, respectively. Although the species accumulation curve did not stabilize, the results were positive as three new species were recorded for the Maranhão state: Bombus transversalis (Olivier, 1789); Xylocopa suspecta Moure and Camargo, 1988; and Xylocopa macrops Lepeletier, 1841, and eleven for the Amazonian region of the state.
Surveys of the bee fauna on islands are scarce due to the difficult access to the study area. Thus, the current study intended to establish the species of bees present in an island of the Delta of the Americas, called Grande do Paulino, Tutóia, Maranhão. Together with the bees, the plants visited by these insects were recorded, in order to document the relationships between these organisms. Between July 2017 and June 2018, once a month, 1,095 individuals, distributed in 16 tribes, 30 genera, and 48 species, were collected with active (entomological net) and passive (bowl traps) sampling methods. Data from plants and their visiting bees are presented in an interaction network in the form of a bipartite graph, showing Xylocopa cearensis as the most collected bee species, and Chamaecrista ramosa as the most visited plant by bees. In addition to providing information about the bee fauna of the state of Maranhão and, consequently, from the Brazilian northeast, this study explores the apifauna of a place never before explored and, because it is an island, of difficult access, also providing information about the floristic interactions of these insects.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.