Updating the geographic records of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) in Roraima state

Abstract

The Roraima state in Brazil is part of Northern Amazon, an area harboring high biodiversity and high degree of endemism. Nevertheless, there are few studies on diversity of social wasps occurring in this region. This study presents a list of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) collected actively and using Malaise, Suspended and Light trap in six localities in Roraima state. A total of 85 species of 14 genera were collected. Fourty-five of these species are new distribution records to Roraima state, some species are not common found in the collections and lists of species, and some are recorded for the second time to Brazil or the Amazon region. This increase may be an indication that the Polistinae richness is probably higher in the regions studied and that Roraima may well contain a number of additional (as yet unrecorded) social wasp species. More comprehensive studies are needed in order to increase the knowledge of wasp species in Roraima, contributing to increased knowledge of the diversity in Northern Brazil.