Comunidade de abelhas Euglossina (Hymenoptera: Apidae) em fragmentos de mata atlântica e mata litorânea no estado do Ceará

Abstract

The research was conducted in the municipalities of Guaramiranga, Mulungu and Pacoti from the highlands of the Baturité’s Massif and Fortaleza located in coastal region, all located in the state of Ceará. The data collections were made monthly from 8:00 to 16:00 hours on four consecutive days during the period from November 2009 to November 2010 with the objective of carrying out a survey of Euglossina species who occurring in fragments of Atlantic Forest and Coastal Forest in the state of Ceará. For the collecting of these species were used the essences: methyl salicylate, eucalyptol, and vanillin. Males were attracted by scents and captured in bait-traps made with PET plastic bottles of two liters. We sampled 1.345 male Euglossina in those four areas of study, belonging to three genera and eight species. The four study areas had common species: Euglossa carolina, Euglossa fimbriata and Eulaema nigrita. The species Euglossa cfr. despecta, Euglossa pleosticta and Eulaema bombiformis occurred exclusively in the three municipalities of the Baturité’s Massif. Eufriesea auriceps was sampled only in the city of Guaramiranga and Euglossa cf. hemichlora only in Mulungu. With respect to abundance, the number of males sampled per species was very variable, Eulaema nigrita being the most abundant species in all sites. The three aromatic baits used in this study were effective in attracting males Euglossina, with eucalyptol being the essence more efficient in terms of abundance and richness of males attracted. The number of individuals varied with the seasons (winter and summer), were more active during the rainy season than in the dry months. Males Euglossina were collected throughout the day, however, most visits to baits occurred from 8:00 to 14:00 h. In all areas sampled males were more active during the morning, with higher activity in the range of 8:00 to 10:00h, concentrating 38,69% of those attracted to baits. The community structure of Euglossina described for the study areas is consistent with the pattern found in other regions of northeast Brazil. However, further studies on the community Euglossina must be made in other areas of Atlantic Forest fragments and Coastal Forest in the state of Ceará, in order to learn more about their diversity and distribution patterns, as well as reinforce the importance of conservation this biome.