Abstract
The state of Minas Gerais has high biodiversity, characterized by strong ecosystem heterogeneity that favors high richness of social wasps. There are currently 109 species known to occur in the state, however, there is lack of information concerning the distribution of these social insects among different ecosystems. The objective of this study was to evaluate social wasp species richness and distributions by ecosystem, thereby generating data for use in discerning relevant and priority environments for vespid conservation in Minas Gerais. We evaluated articles, theses, and dissertations published up to the year 2016 containing data on biodiversity of social wasps in natural and agricultural environments. We found 18 studies, in which the highest reported species richness was in semideciduous seasonal forest (n = 68), followed by Cerrado (n = 53), ombrophilous forest (n = 39), deciduous seasonal forest, and campos rupestres (n = 35). The lowest richness was reported in mixed forest (n = 21) and high-altitude fields (n = 19). Considering the high degree of landscape diversity of the state of Minas Gerais, more studies are needed to accurately assess social wasp diversity in these ecosystems, especially Cerrado. Ombrophilous and deciduous forests should be considered strongly relevant for these social insects, especially the Rio Doce State Park and the Rio Pandeiros Wildlife Refuge.
Highlights
The netropical region presents high biodiversity as a result of ecosystem heterogeneity that includes Cerrado, campos rupestres, high-altitude fields, deciduous and semideciduous forest, Atlantic forest, and Caatinga (Scolforo & Carvalho, 2006)
The mixed forests are composed of Araucaria angustifolia Kuntze 1898 associated with species of semidecidual rainforest, tropical climate of altitude; Cerrado shows variable vegetation, from rural, savanna and forest formations, tropical climate; Campos Rupestres areas are characterized by rocky outcrops of quartz, located in areas above 900 meters of altitude, endemic flora and tropical climate of altitude; and Altitude Fields show a predominance of species of the family Poaceae and flora very similar to the Patagonia Fields, southern Argentina, altitude above 1,000 meters and altitude topical climate (Oliveira Filho, 2006)
The exception three species Mischocyttarus buysoni (Ducke, 1906), Polybia brunnea (Curtis, 1844) e Polybia emaciata (Saussure, 1854) Which has a record for the study area (Richard, 1978), but there is no occurrence information per ecosystem
Summary
The netropical region presents high biodiversity as a result of ecosystem heterogeneity that includes Cerrado, campos rupestres, high-altitude fields, deciduous (dry) and semideciduous forest, Atlantic forest, and Caatinga (Scolforo & Carvalho, 2006). In a study with Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae), Suhs et al (2009) showed that social wasps, especially Polistes versicolor (Olivier, 1791), Polybia sericea (Olivier, 1791), Polistes simillimus (Zikán, 1951), and Polybia ignobilis (Haliday, 1836), were more representative in richness and abundance than bee species, being considered efficient pollinators. Other studies, such as Barros (1998) and Hermes and Kohler, (2006) demonstrated the efficiency of the wasps as pollinators
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