Range Expansion of the Cleptoparasitic Orchid Bee Aglae caerulea in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Marta Helena Schorn De Souza,Evandson José Dos Anjos-Silva,Sandro De Oliveira Pains,Félix Antenor Labaig,Jessica Dasayane Santos Figueiredo,Carlos Alberto Garófalo,Mariana Teodoro De Brito,Jaquison Corrêa Da Cunha

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v67i4.4581

Marta Helena Schorn De Souza, Evandson José Dos Anjos-Silva + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v67i4.4581

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Abstract

In the present study, a new occurrence of Aglae caerulea Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville is reported within a few km of the seasonal flooded plain limits of the Pantanal in the Paraguay basin, reinforcing the idea that this species coexists with its hostess Eulaema nigrita, one of the most common species catalogued in several habitats surveyed in the biome. After 18 months of sampling and no A. caerulea male attracted to the baits, methyl cinnamate was added to the set of fragrances available in the field. During four weeks in May and one week in June 2018, a total of 11 males of A. caerulea were attracted to the new bait in the gallery forest of São Vicente Range. With this most recent record, we expand the ranges of occurrence to the north-eastern border of the Pantanal of Barão de Melgaço, in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Future expeditions in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul should record this cleptoparasitic species from southern to western Paraguay river basin, to reduce the biogeographical gaps in this peculiar tribe of corbiculate bees. The cleptoparasitic species A. caerulea may be recorded when adequate field studies and collections are made from the seasonal floodplain habitats to karstic habitats (dry forests) along the Pantanal border.

Highlights

The employment of chemicals such as terpenes to attract male orchid bees since the late 1960s (Dodson et al, 1969; Williams & Whitten, 1983) has led to several studies into the taxonomy and biogeography of euglossines
Among the dozens of pure chemical substances produced by the industry, one salt, in particular, has stood out in the discovery of unusual species of the tribe: this is methyl cinnamate, a commercially available crystal and the most powerful chemical bait for Aglae caerulea Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau and Audinet-Serville in the Neotropics (Williams & Dodson, 1972; Morato, 2001; Anjos-Silva et al, 2006; Martins et al, 2016; Anjos-Silva, 2019a,b)
Some authors have highlighted that gallery forests play an important role as mesic corridors, opening the way to colonization of the Cerrado by forest-dependent species with ranges centered in the neighboring Amazon and Atlantic Forests (Sick, 1966; Willis, 1992; Moura and Schlindwein, 2009; Silva et al, 2013; Martins et al, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

The employment of chemicals such as terpenes to attract male orchid bees since the late 1960s (Dodson et al, 1969; Williams & Whitten, 1983) has led to several studies into the taxonomy and biogeography of euglossines. The present study was conducted in a gallery forest located at the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso (IFMT), São Vicente Range (15°49’21.42” S; 55°25’06.36” W), in the Santo Antônio do Leverger municipality, Mato Grosso, Brazil (Fig 1).

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