The orchid-bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of a forest remnant in northeastern Brazil, with new geographic records and an identification key to the known species of the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The orchid bee fauna of Estação Ecológica de Murici (ESEC Murici), in the state of Alagoas, one of the largest remnants of the Atlantic Rain Forest in northeastern Brazil, was surveyed for the first time. Seven hundred and twenty-one orchid-bee males belonging to 17 species were collected from the 3rd to the 10th of September, 2009. Besides the recently described Eulaema (Apeulaema) felipei Nemésio, 2010, three other species recorded at ESEC Murici deserve further attention: Euglossa amazonica Dressler, 1982b, recorded for the first time outside the Amazon Basin; Euglossa milenae Bembé, 2007 and Euglossa analis Westwood, 1840, both recorded for the first time in the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil north to São Francisco river. These results together with previous samplings in the state of Alagoas reveal that at least 22 orchid-bee species are now known to occur there. Three other species not recorded for Alagoas yet are known from the neighbor states of Sergipe, Pernambuco, and Paraíba. An identification key to all 25 species of Euglossina known to occur in the states of Alagoas, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Paraíba, and Rio Grande do Norte is provided.