Richness of Wild Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in a Forest Remnant in a Transition Region of Eastern Amazonia

Abstract

Eastern Amazonia is an area with great biological diversity that has suffered rapid deforestation and forest fragmentation over the years. Because of the scarcity of data on the fauna and flora, the northwest of the state of Maranhão has become a priority area for studies that seek to gain a better understanding of bee fauna. Between August 2013 and December 2014, in collections at two-month intervals, a total of 1047 bees belonging to 70 species were collected using two methods (an insect net and scent-baited traps). Apinae was the most abundant subfamily and had the greatest species richness (63 species and 1039 individuals); the most notable tribes in this subfamily were Meliponini (20 species and 445 individuals) and Euglossini (24 species and 452 individuals). In all, 62.8% of the total richness was sampled with an insect net and 34.2% with bait traps. Bees were present in every collection month, and August and December were the months with the greatest richness and abundance, respectively. Although the species accumulation curve did not stabilize, the results were positive as three new species were recorded for the Maranhão state: Bombus transversalis (Olivier, 1789); Xylocopa suspecta Moure and Camargo, 1988; and Xylocopa macrops Lepeletier, 1841, and eleven for the Amazonian region of the state.

The bee fauna (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in Cerrado and Cerrado-Amazon Rainforest transition sites in Tocantins state, Northern Region of Brazil

“…The greatest representativeness of family Apidae regarding number of genera, species and individuals was also recorded by other studies performed in the Cerrado, Amazon Rainforest and in transition regions (Andena et al 2005, Santos et al 2004, Oliveira-Junior et al 2015, Lima & Silvestre 2017, Almeida et al 2019, Ferreira et al 2019). The tribe Meliponini was the most diverse and abundant group in the herein assessed biomes, and these data corroborate results recorded in other studies performed in Cerrado and transition sites (Almeida et al 2019, Santos et al 2004, Santiago et al 2009, Roel et al 2019).…”

“…Furthermore, data available about bee communities in Brazil have shown great variation in richness between locations and the highest values recorded range from 100 to 200 species (Pinheiro-Machado et al 2002). Mean richness value so far recorded for the Cerrado area reached 62 species (Santiago et al 2009), whereas for the Cerrado-Amazon Rainforest transition site this number rises to70 species (Ferreira et al 2019). Thus, species richness values recorded for the community in the present study, in both regions, can be considered high, since higher abundance and richness values were herein recorded, despite the small sampling effort compared to that in the study by Santos et al (2004), in transition site a Cerrado-Amazon Forest.…”

“…According to Laroca (1972), surveys focused on diversity tend to show several species with few individuals in different habitats worldwide. This statement points out the need of further studies based on greater sampling effort and on longer periodsof-time in order to find more real richness values in bee community surveys (Ferreira et al 2019).…”

“…Species richness recorded in the current study for the Cerrado-Amazon Rainforest transition sites (n = 50) and Cerrado sites (n = 59) can be considered high if analyzed the two areas together (total = 90 species, 37 genera, 14 tribes and four families), and lower richness if we consider the data from the transition area ou Cerrado area separately, in comparison to results performed in other studies sites that have used more than one sampling method. As examples of studies carried out in transition areas with the Amazon Rainforest biome, we can mention the study performed by Ferreira et al (2019), who assessed an western northeast Atlantic Basin-Amazon Rainforest transition site and found 70 species (1047 individuals collected, from in 35 genera, 15 tribes and three families -Apidae, Halictidae and Megachilidae), and that…”

“…Most of the publish studies only take into account the diversity of specific tribes, such as Meliponini or Euglossini (Roel et al 2019, Oliveira-Junior et al 2015. Besides, most surveys only use one collection method (Santiago et al 2009, Roel et al 2019, Santos et al 2004, and only few of them use more than one collection method (Almeida et al 2019, Ferreira et al 2019.…”