No abstract

The occurrence of Euglossa imperialis Cockerell, 1922 is recorded for the first time in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. This paper extends the distribution of the species by about 800 km west of the São Paulo state, its nearest record.

Considering the important roles of pollinators in ecosystem services, their identification and studies of their behavior would be extremely important to efforts directed towards their preservation and management. With the aim of examining the diversity and behavior of the floral visitors to Campomanesia adamantium (Cambessédes) O. Berg (“guavira”) and how they act in the pollination process, a total of 31 species belonging to the orders Hymenoptera (79.30 %), Coleoptera (11.34 %), Diptera (9.1 %), and Hemiptera (0.24 %) were identified. Among the Hymenoptera, africanized Apis mellifera, Brachygastra lecheguana, and Trachymyrmex sp. were considered dominant. Foraging was most intense between 07:00 and 10:00 h, with decreased activity after 13:00 h. The insects visited the plants in search of pollen and nectar, with pollen being the principal resource offered. Among the pollinators, africanized Apis mellifera stood out due to their behavior, frequency of visitation, abundance (being responsible for 53.24 % of all floral visits), and their constant presence on C. adamantium flowers during the entire observation period. Other insects (wasps, ants, and coleopterans) were associated with floral tissue predation.

Forest habitats are important sources of food and nesting resources for pollinators, primarily in urban areas and landscapes with intense agricultural activity. The forest fragmentation and environmental changes occurring in these green refuges are known to impose survival challenges to pollinating bees, leading to species loss. However, it is not well known how the species of bees that visit flowers are distributed in forest micro-environments. To fill this gap, we sampled flower visiting bees in a continuous forest matrix with micro-environments of two forest types (mature and regenerating forest). We examined how the local environmental changes and climatic conditions affect the composition and uniformity of bee communities in the different micro-environments. Our results indicated that both abundance and richness were similar between forest types studied here, however climatic conditions and plant flowering patterns affect the composition of bees. Thus, our results demonstrated that the continuous micro-environments can favor floral visits and the reintegration of bee communities, and still, that this strategy can be used to minimize the impacts of environmental changes at local scales.