Surveying neotropical social wasps: an evaluation of methods in the "Ferreira Penna" research station (ECFPn), in Caxiuanã, PA, Brazil (Hym., Vespidae, Polistinae)

Abstract

A survey of social wasps was made in the area of the "Ferreira Penna" Research Station (ECFPn) in Caxiuanã, PA, Brazil. Traditional collecting methods as the use of Malaise traps and the search for individuals and colonies of wasps along trails in the forest and by river margins, were applied in a more systematized fashion. Seventy-nine species belonging to 18 genera were discovered within a discontinuous period of 52 days of collecting. Angiopolybia pallens, Polybia liliacea, and several Agelaia species were the most frequently collected species. Active search for wasps in the forest and by river margins was far more efficient than Malaise traps regarding the discovery of polistine species.