The orchid bee fauna (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini) from the Capadócia Nordestina, Piauí State, Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Surveys of local Euglossini faunas have largely focused on forests, considering the relationship that orchid bees have with such environments. So, large areas of Caatinga and even Cerrado are yet to be inventoried. Besides the relevance of knowing those faunas themselves, understanding the distribution of species in the dry diagonal of South America is central also to understanding the patterns of richness and endemism of orchid bees in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest. Orchid bees were collected in an area of shrubby Caatinga at the locality of Três Irmãos, municipality of São José do Piauí, Piauí State, northeastern Brazil, using traps baited with aromatic compounds, from October, 2022 to November, 2023. Fifty-nine individuals of five species were sampled, and Euglossa cordata (Linnaeus, 1758) was the most common species, followed by Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841. Data collected in the region reinforce what is already known regarding the general patterns of orchid bees in the Caatinga biome: assemblages with a reduced number of species, mostly composed of widely distributed species, low abundance of individuals and marked seasonality.