Abelhas e vespas solitárias

Abelhas e vespas solitárias em ninhos-armadilha na Reserva Biológica Guaribas (Mamanguape, Paraíba, Brasil)
Antonio José Camillo Aguiar 1,2 Celso Feitosa Martins 1

ABSTRACT. Trap-nesting solitary bees and wasps (Hymenoptera) in Guaribas Biological Reserve (Mamanguape, Paraíba, Brasil). The trap-nesting bees of Guaribas Biological Reserve were studied during one year. Three areas with different vegetation types were sampled, open savanas, c10sed forest, and a mosaic of these two types. Twelve species oftrap-nesting bees were observed, four ofwhich are parasites. The most abundant species were Centris tarsata (Smith, 1879), C. analis (Fabricius, 1804), Tetrapedia diversipes Klug, 1810, and Mesocheira bicolor (Fabricius, 1804). Nesting of Centris tarsata and Mesocheira bicolor occurred mainly during the dry season, while Centris analis and Tetrapedia diversipes did not show any seasonaI preferences. Mesocheira bicolor occurred only in the nests of C. tarsata, parasitizing more than 50% of the nests and representing 23.2% of the individuais emerged in the host nests. The mosaic area yielded a greater abundance and diversity. Comparing the sampling methods of trap-nests and entomological nets, conducted simultaneously in the sarne area, in relation to diversity of trap nesting bees, it was observed a great similarity in terms of composition and differences of abundance in species sampled. Some hypothesis are discussed to explain a reason for the greater diversity and abundance of the mosaic area in relation to the other areas. KEY WORDS. Apoidea, Apiformes, bees, Tabuleiro, trap-nests

As abelhas pertencem aos Apoidea Apiformes, estimadas em 30.000 espécies, com uma grande variedade de hábitos de nidificação, desde espécies solitárias com poucas células de cria, até espécies sociais com milhares de células (ROUBIK 1989; MICHENER 2000). As cavidades preexistentes em madeira, utilizadas para nidificação de algumas espécies de abelhas e vespas, são constituídas por