PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Ecologia, Polistinae, manguezal, restinga, Mata AtlânticaABSTRACT -We studied the structure and composition of communities of social wasps associated with the three insular ecosystems: mangrove swamp, the Atlantic Rain Forest and the ´restinga´-lowland sandy ecosystems located between the mountain range and the sea. Three hundred and ninety-one nests of 21 social wasp species were collected. The diversity of wasps found in each ecosystem was significantly correlated to the diversity of vegetation in each of the three physiognomies, (r 2 = 0.85; F(1.16) = 93.85; P < 0. 01). The Tropical Atlantic Forest physiognomy had higher species richness (18 species), followed by the restinga (16 species) and the mangrove (8 species) ecosystems.
Este estudo teve por objetivo identificar as espécies utilizadas como recurso alimentar e descrever os padrões locais de utilização de frutos de cactos como recurso alimentar por vespas sociais em uma área de Caatinga. Novecentos e oito indivíduos de nove espécies de vespas foram capturados visitando seis espécies de cactáceas. Cereus jamacaru DC. e Pilosocereus catingicola (Gurke) Byles & G.D foram as cactáceas mais utilizadas por vespas sociais, tanto em número de espécies quanto de indivíduos. Polybia paulista von Ihering, 1896, Polybia ignobilis (Haliday, 1836), Polistes versicolor (Olivier, 1791), Polistes simillimus Zikán, 1951, Polistes billardieri Fabricius, 1804, Polistes canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758), Polybia occidentalis (Olivier, 1791) e Polybia sericea (Olivier, 1705) apresentaram as maiores amplitudes de nicho trófico. As maiores sobreposições no nicho trófico foram observadas entre Mischocyttarus lanei Zikán, 1949 e Polistes simillimus Zikán, 1951 (0,83). Os altos níveis de sobreposição de nichos observados são explicados em função do comportamento generalista das vespas sociais, bem como da exploração intensiva de poucas espécies de cactáceas.
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