News from the west: the orchid bees from Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossina)

Luiz R R Faria,Maria Noel Clerici Hirschfeld,Araceli Judith Arce,Betânia Cristina Neves,Fernando César Vieira Zanella

doi:10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2018-0645

Abstract

Abstract: Orchid bees were surveyed at Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, the largest remnant of Seasonal Semideciduous Forest in Brazil. Seven species were collected, and Eufriesea violacea (Blanchard) was the most common species, followed by Euglossa annectans Dressler. The observed species richness and species composition agree with what is known for the local euglossine faunas in fragments of Seasonal Semideciduous Forest of southern and southeastern Brazil. On the other hand, the abundance of individuals was remarkably low. The occurrence of a severe winter in 2013 and the collection of several males in other fragments suggest that this noteworthy low abundance can be fortuitous.

Highlights

Orchid bees are a primarily Neotropical and monophyletic group of bees (e.g Ramírez et al 2010) distributed from southern United States (Skov & Wiley 2005) to southern Brazil (Wittmann et al 1988) and northern and central Argentina (Pearson & Dressler 1985; Cordoba, Central Argentina; FCVZ, personal observation)
Data collected at the Parque Nacional do Iguaçu revealed an orchid bee species richness comparable to what have been found elsewhere in seasonal semideciduous areas in southern Brazil and, with regard to species composition, results suggested that the local orchid bee fauna of PNI comprises elements that are very common in these areas (Sofia & Suzuki 2004, Sofia et al 2004, Giangarelli et al 2015, Gonçalves et al 2014, Ferronato et al 2018)
An additional orchid bee species, Euglossa (Euglossella) mandibularis Friese, 1899 is known to inhabit Parque Nacional do Iguaçu (Faria & Zanella 2015), bringing the number of species found in PNI to eight

Summary

Introduction

Orchid bees are a primarily Neotropical and monophyletic group of bees (e.g Ramírez et al 2010) distributed from southern United States (Skov & Wiley 2005) to southern Brazil (Wittmann et al 1988) and northern and central Argentina (Pearson & Dressler 1985; Cordoba, Central Argentina; FCVZ, personal observation). The importance of these bees in the dynamics of forestry ecosystems are fairly recognized for their role as pollinators of several plant clades, mainly Orchidaceae, Gesneriaceae, Araceae, Euphorbiaceae, Apocynaceae and Solanaceae (e.g. Ramírez et al 2002, Cameron 2004). Regarding the Semideciduous Seasonal forests ( on, SSF) of southern Brazil, efforts in systematic inventorying orchid bees are quite punctual, restricted to studies in small fragments of up to 680 ha, in the region of Londrina (Santos & Sofia 2002, Sofia & Suzuki 2004, Sofia et al 2004, Ferronato et al 2018), Telêmaco Borba (Giangarelli et al 2015) and Palotina (Gonçalves et al 2014), all in Paraná state

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Conclusion