Social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) in Cerrado and Caatinga conservation units, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Abstract The Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas, northern Minas Gerais, is located in the Cerrado, a global hotspot, and the literature lacks information about its communities of social wasps, insects that perform numerous services for the functioning of ecosystems. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct an inventory of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) in the Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas, and compare its richness and composition with three other fully protected conservation units in northern Minas Gerais and Vale do Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais. A total of 41 species of 14 genera of social wasps were recorded, including a new occurrence in the state: Mischocyttarus campestris Raw, 1985. The presence of distinct social wasp communities in the Cerrado and Caatinga conservation units analyzed in this study, reinforces and justifies the creation of these fully protected areas, which ensure the conservation of this biological heritage and the environmental services provided by these taxa, besides providing subsidies for the management and sustainable use of the natural resources of these conservation units.