Hymenoptera fauna, with emphasis on Ichneumonidae from an area of Caatinga in Northeast Brazil

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to carry out a survey of families of Hymenoptera, with emphasis on Ichneumonidae, in an area of Caatinga, and register the occurrence of new species, if any, for the biome. Samples were taken with Malaise traps between September and November 2008 in a native area of vegetation of Serra do Lima, municipality of Patu, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. 7,562 hymenopterans, from 11 superfamilies and 31 families, were collected. The most abundant superfamilies were: Chalcidoidea (2,887 specimens / 38.33% of the total), Platygastroidea (1,572 / 20.87%) and Vespoidea (1,131 / 15.02%) which constituted more than 70% of the captured hymenopterans. A total of 160 specimens of Ichneumonidae from 17 subfamilies were sampled, of which four are new records for Rio Grande do Norte: (Lycorininae, Nesomesochorinae, Phygadeuontinae and Tryphoninae). Altogether, 26 genera were recognized, with 16 new records for the state. Cryptophion espinozai Gauld & Janzen (Campopleginae) and Labena marginata Szépligeti (Labeninae) were registered for the first time in Caatinga. The obtained data demonstrate a considerable diversity of the studied groups in this area and also affirms the necessity of additional studies to establish the richness of this fauna in a more extensive and conclusive way.

Diversity of Ophioniformes wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) in a Central-West Brazilian Savanna area

“…Five species of the cosmopolitan genus Anomalon Panzer, 1804 are recorded in Brazil (Yu et al, 2016;Fernandes et al, 2020a). Apart from the savanna this genus is also known to occur in the Amazon (Townes & Townes, 1966) and Caatinga biomes (Fernandes et al, 2019(Fernandes et al, , 2020b and in coconut palm and coffee crops Comério et al, 2012). Ophionellus Westwood, 1874 is a small new world genus (21 species) with three Brazilian species (Yu et al, 2016;Fernandes et al, 2020a).…”

“…Surveys of ichneumonid fauna including this clade, with identification of at least subfamily level, were conducted predominantly in the South (Kumagai & Graf, 2000;Kumagai & Graf, 2002) and Southeastern regions of Brazil (Guerra & Penteado-Dias, 2002;Kumagai, 2002;Sandonato et al, 2010;Comério et al, 2012;Tanque et al, 2010). Over the last years, Darwin wasps faunistic surveys have been conducted in the Brazilian Central-West and Northeast regions (Aranda & Graciolli, 2015;Fernandes et al, 2019Fernandes et al, , 2020b.…”

Faunistic analysis of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera) in Guarana (Paullinia cupana) crop, with new records of genera for the Brazilian Amazon

“…Despite the ecological importance of Ichneumonidae, there is little knowledge about this group in most regions of Brazil, wherein the majority of studies were conducted in Atlantic Forest areas (KUMAGAI;GRAF, 2000;2002;PENTEADO-DIAS, 2002;KUMAGAI, 2002;TANQUE et al, 2010;TANQUE et al, 2015), Cerrado (PÁDUA et al, 2014), Caatinga ( SHIMBORI et al, 2014FERNANDES et al, 2019;FERNANDES et al, 2020b), and specific agroecosystems, such as rubber tree fauna (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.)…”

Chalcididae (Hymenoptera) Associated With a Semiarid Region in Bahia, Brazil

“…However, despite of these insects to contribute to essential processes of the ecosystems, there is a lack of interest in the development of faunistic studies associated them with some biomes in Brazil (MARCHIORI, 2021). The scarcity of information on the fauna of this group is even higher when considering drier regions, such as the Caatinga biome in Brazil (SHIMBORI et al, 2014;SHIMBORI et al, 2017;FERNANDES et al, 2020).…”