Social wasps fauna (Vespidae) of semideciduous seasonal forest in southern Brazil

Abstract

Social wasps are insects that perform numerous environmental services, with emphasis on pollination and predation of agricultural pests. However, despite the increase in efforts to know the social wasps geographical distribution and richness, there are still many areas and ecosystems with few studies of this nature, such as the Paraná State, Southern Brazil. To collaborate with these efforts, this work aimed to carry out an inventory of social wasps in semideciduous forest in the Ilha Grande National Park, an integral conservation unit in the Paraná State. The Sampling took place from February to November 2019, totalizing 15 days and 60 hours, being carried out on six islands of the Paraná River, using the active search for species and colonies records. Fourteen species were registered, distributed in six genera. The study revealed a low species richness, which may be related to the area's usage history, as well as to other factors. This highlights the need for greater sampling efforts in other areas of this conservation unit.