Reproductive success of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in a fragmented landscape

• Published in: Iheringia. Série Zoologia 2020-01, Vol.110
• Main Authors: Oliveira, Grayce Kelly Costa, Elias, Marcos Antonio da Silva, Bergamini, Leonardo Lima, Franceschinelli, Edivani Villaron
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fragmentation; reproductive success; trap-nests; ZOOLOGY
• ISSN: 0073-4721; 1678-4766; 1678-4766
• DOI: 10.1590/1678-4766e2020004

ABSTRACT Fragmentation of natural vegetation often implies a reduction in local species richness and abundance. The resources used by bees and wasps for feeding and nesting are distributed quite irregularly in fragmented environments, which influences their foraging behavior, occurrence patterns and reproductive success. The objective of the present work was to determine if the size of native vegetation remnants influences the reproductive success of the solitary wasp species Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse Saussure, 1867. Trap-nests were established along the edges of forest fragments of different sizes located in municipalities in the central region of the state of Goiás, Brazil. The nests were used to quantify nesting rate, number of cells with larvae, survival of larvae, proportion of nests attacked by parasitoids, and size of hatched adults. The foundation rate of trap-nests was greater in large fragments, whereas the mean number of cells per nest, parasitoidism rate, larval survival and sex ratios, and size of hatched adults did not differ between large and small fragments. Therefore, it appears that fragment size influences the survival or permanence of adults more so than it does that of the larvae in the studied fragments. There are two possible explanations for the difference in the foundation rate: 1) each female founds, in average, the same number of nests in small and large fragments, but the number of females is lower in the smaller fragments; 2) females have the capacity to provision several nests, but in the larger areas each female founds more nests than in smaller areas. However, it is necessary future studies to differentiate these two hypotheses. RESUMO A fragmentação das vegetações nativas muitas vezes implica na redução da riqueza e abundância local de espécies. Nos ambientes fragmentados, os recursos para alimentação e nidificação de abelhas e vespas estão distribuídos de forma bastante irregular, influenciando no comportamento de forrageamento, padrão de ocorrência e no sucesso reprodutivo desses organismos. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar se o tamanho das áreas de remanescentes de vegetação nativa interfere no sucesso reprodutivo de uma espécie de vespa solitária Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse Saussure, 1867. Para tanto, estabelecemos ninhos armadilha nas bordas de fragmentos de mata de tamanhos diferentes localizados em munícipios da região central do estado de Goiás, Brasil. Estes ninhos foram utiliz