Rapid assessment of the orchid bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) in the vicinity of an urban Atlantic Forest remnant in São Paulo, Brazil

ABSTRACT

Euglossini (Hymenoptera Apidae, Apini), also known as orchid bees, are endemic to the Neotropical region (Nemésio and Rasmussem, 2011). They are well-known and widely distributed taxon in the Atlantic Forest with more than 60 species (included in four distinct genera) registered in this biome (Nemésio, 2009; Garraffoni et al., 2017). The Atlantic Rain Forest originally occupied about 15% of the Brazilian territory, but it was completely fragmented in forest remnants, and now covers 11-16% of its original area (Ribeiro et al., 2009; Joly et al., 2014). Our knowledge about orchid bee diversity in urban forest fragments is very scarce (Nemésio and Silveira, 2007; Cordeiro et al., 2013), although diverse communities of wild bees have been surprisingly found in cities around the world (Nemésio and Silveira, 2007; Burr et al., 2016). Thus, our aim in this study was a rapid assessment of the orchid bee fauna in the vicinity of an Atlantic Forest remain. The strategy of intensive sampling over a few days in the rainy season are common and has been demonstrated to be very useful to know the orchid bee fauna of an area (Nemésio, 2013a, b). Data were collected in an urban area (22º4940”S-47º0610”W; altitude 630 m), among fruit and ornamental trees, distant 200 m of the east edge of an Atlantic Forest remnant called Santa Genebra Forest (Campinas, SP), the second larger urban forest in Brazil (252 ha). It is a semideciduous forest and the regional climate is the Cfa of Köppen (humid subtropical with a hot summer). Orchid bee males were collected at a fixed site using seven bait traps as described in Viotti et al. (2013), and bottles of 0.5 L. Each trap received one of the seven baits 1,8-cineole, eugenol, vanillin, β-ionone, benzyl acetate, methyl trans-cinnamate, and methyl salicylate; and were randomly hanged in shaded branches at about 1.5 m above the ground and distant at least 2 m from each other. The collections were done during five consecutive days (from day 6th to 10th) in February of both 2015 and 2016, from 900 to 1700 h (when the bees are most active). The scents were replaced every day, and cineole three times a day. Captured bees were pinned, identified and deposited at Coleção de Abelhas da Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri. Taxonomic decisions were based on Moure's Bee Catalogue (Moure et al., 2012). Species accumulation curves were constructed for the data set from each sampling year separately or for both years jointly. Sampling efficiency was also evaluated by nonparametric richness estimators (Chao 1, Chao 2, Jackknife 1, Jackknife 2, and Bootstrap) available in the EstimateS 9.1.0 software (Colwell, 2006).(AU)