Survey of social wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) in Amazon rainforest fragments in Acre, Brazil

Abstract

The State of Acre, in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon, harbors high biodiversity and a high degree of endemisms. Nevertheless, there are few studies on the diversity of social wasps occurring in this region. This study presents a list of social wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) collected actively with attractive bait in three rainforest fragments in Acre. A total of 758 wasps belonging to 11 genera and 36 species were collected. Nineteen species were new distribution records for Acre and three others were new records for Brazil. Based on our results, further investigations should lead to a significant increase in Polistinae diversity in this region, producing information for biogeographic studies and management of natural areas.KEYWORDS: distribution records, Neotropical Region, swarm-founding wasps, Western Amazon Levantamento de vespas sociais (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) em fragmentos de floresta Amazônica no Acre, Brasil RESUMO O estado do Acre é parte da Amazônia Ocidental brasileira, uma área que abriga uma grande biodiversidade e alto grau de endemismos. Contudo, poucos estudos investigaram a diversidade de vespas sociais nesta região. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de uma amostragem de vespas sociais (Hymenoptera,Vespidae, Polistinae) em três fragmentos de floresta primária no estado do Acre. As vespas foram coletadas ativamente com o uso de solução atrativa. Um total de 758 vespas, pertencentes a 11 gêneros e 36 espécies, foi amostrado, sendo 19 dessas espécies novos registros de distribuição para o Acre e três novos registros para o Brasil. Nossos resultados indicam que novas investigações devem levar a um aumento significativo da diversidade de espécies de vespas Polistinae conhecida para a região. Nosso estudo produziu subsídios de grande utilidade para estudos biogeográficos e fornece informações importantes para a tomada de decisões sobre o manejo de áreas naturais.

Biodiversity of Insecta in Amazonia: Updating the geographic records of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) in Acre and Rondônia States, Brazil

“…A total of 114 species in 19 genera of social wasps were recorded for Acre; we identified 60 species in our samples, 40 already reported in literature and 20 as new collecting records. There are still other 54 species known from literature not sampled in this study (Richards, 1978;Morato et al, 2008;Gomes et al, 2018;Andena et al, 2019;Somavilla & Andena, 2019;IUNH, 2020) (Table 01). For Rondônia we listed the occurrence of 116 species in 19 genera; we identified 54 species in our samples, 39 already reported in literature and 15 as new records.…”

“…Ducke (1904Ducke ( , 1907 conducted one of the first surveys of wasp fauna in the eastern region of the Brazilian Amazon, mainly in Pará State. Recently, similar works have been carried out in the Brazilian Amazon, such as in Acre State (Morato et al, 2008;Gomes et al, 2018), Amapá State (Silveira et al, 2008;Silveira et al, 2019), Amazonas State (Silveira et al, 2008;Somavilla et al, 2015;Somavilla et al, 2016;Somavilla & Oliveira, 2017;, Maranhão State (Somavilla et al, 2014b), Pará State (Silveira, 2002;Silva & Silveira, 2009), Rondônia State (Gomes et al, 2020), and Roraima State (Raw, 1998;Barroso et al, 2017).…”

“…Despite the contributions of these works, Somavilla et al (2014a) stated "there are many sample gaps in the Amazon region and distribution and occurrence studies are necessary for improving upon this prior knowledge". Furthermore, for Acre there are two works on social wasps: one in Serra do Divisor National Park (Morato et al, 2008) and another in three fragments of the Amazon rainforest, near to the city of Rio Branco (Gomes et al, 2018), in addition to the previous records from Richards (1978) and the Taxonomic Catalog of Fauna of Brazil -CTFB (Hermes et al, 2015), reporting a sum of 94 species for this state. In Rondônia, one recent work has been published by Gomes et al (2020) with samples from three fragments in northern Rondônia, in addition to the previous records from Richards (1978) and the Taxonomic Catalog of Fauna of Brazil -CTFB (Hermes et al, 2015), reporting 101 species for this state.…”

Biodiversity of Insects in the Amazon: survey of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) in Amazon rainforest areas in Amazonas state, Brazil

“…Ducke (1904Ducke ( , 1907 conducted one of the first surveys of wasp fauna in the eastern region of the Brazilian Amazon, mainly in Pará State. Recently, similar works have been carried out in the Brazilian Amazon, as follow in Acre State (Morato et al, 2008;Gomes et al, 2018), Amapá State (Silveira et al, 2008), Maranhão State (Somavilla et al, 2014b), Pará State (Silveira, 2002;Silva & Silveira, 2009) and Roraima State (Raw, 1998;Barroso et al, 2017). In the state of Amazonas, six surveys have been carried out: Mamirauá and Alvarães Reserves, with 46 and 42 species, respectively (Silveira et al, 2008), Jaú National Park with 49 species (Somavilla et al, 2015), Madeira-Purus rivers with 38 species (Oliveira et al, 2015), Embrapa-Manaus with 52 species (Somavilla et al, 2016), and Ducke Reserve with 103 species (Somavilla & Oliveira, 2017).…”

Is the social wasp fauna in the tree canopy different from the understory? Study of a particular area in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest

“…Some studies about social wasps have been carried out in the Brazilian Amazon, as follows: Maracá Ecological Station, Roraima State with 36 species (Raw, 1998) and four other locations in Roraima with 85 species (Barroso et al, 2017); Caxiuanã Reserve, Pará State with 79 species (Silveira, 2002) and 65 species (Silva & Silveira, 2009); Serra do Divisor National Park, Acre State with 20 species and three fragments close to Rio Branco with 36 species (Morato et al, 2008;Gomes et al, 2018); Lakes of Amapá, Amapá State with 31 species ; Gurupi Biological Reserve, Maranhão State with 38 species ; and three localities in North of Rondônia State with 76 species (Gomes, 2013). In the state of Amazonas, six surveys have been carried out: Mamirauá and Alvarães Reserves, with 46 and 42 species, respectively , Jaú National Park with 49 species , Madeira-Purus rivers with 38 species , Embrapa-Manaus with 52 species (Somavilla et al, 2016), and Ducke Reserve with 103 species (Somavilla & Oliveira, 2017).…”