Diversidade de vespas sociais (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) em áreas de transição entre cerrado e Mata Atlântica Com Influências Antrópicas

Abstract

The family Vespidae is composed of six subfamilies, and its representatives can exhibit solitary, presocial, and eusocial behaviors. Wasps are involved in various ecosystem services, such as the pollination of various plant species, and they are considered efficient predators, including in their diet harmful insects to agriculture, and they also contribute to the trophic balance of ecosystems. The objective of this project was to compare the diversity of social wasps in transition areas between the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado subject to anthropic modifications. Seven collections were carried out, each lasting three days (ten days for the Cerrado and eleven days for the Atlantic Forest over the course of a year). The sampling was conducted through active search. The wasps were collected, stored in 70% alcohol, and later identified using specific entomological keys. Statistical analyses were performed using the indices of Richness (S), Shannon-Wiener Diversity (H'), and Berger-Parker (Dpb), as well as the Bootstrap 1 estimator, calculated in the software EstimateS® and Primer®. These data were used for multivariate analyses (NMDS), and the means were compared using linear models (LM) in the software RStudio®. Thirty-four species of social wasps were collected, with the most sampled tribe being Epiponini. The NMDS analyses and the means obtained with the linear models indicated no statistical difference between the two treatments (Atlantic Forest and Cerrado). Comparing the results obtained in the present research with others already conducted in Cerrado and Atlantic Forest areas showed greater similarity with studies conducted in areas modified by human action. The proximity between the treatments may have influenced the result, as the municipality of Luminárias is in a transition area between the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest.