Diversity of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) in an Agricultural Environment in Bambuí, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Studies on the diversity of social wasps in agricultural environments represent an important step to identifying the ideal species to be used in biological pest control programs. There is a growing effort to acknowledge the diversity of such Hymenoptera in the state of Minas Gerais, but information on anthropized environments is still rare. The objective of this study was to obtain data on the diversity of social wasps in the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciências e Tecnologia de Minas Gerais (IFMG), Bambuí campus, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Sampling was conducted from July 2012 to July 2014 with two methodologies: attractive traps and active search. This work confirms that a well diversified environment, even if anthropized, is rich in social wasp species. In addition, the great number of collected species, shows the importance of a long-term survey and the use of more than one method of collection. The high rate of collections of Polistes versicolor in a predominantly agricultural environment, coupled with other studies on this species as a predator of lepidopteran caterpillars, suggests the use of this species as a tool in the biological control of pests.