O Cerrado da Universidade Federal de São Carlos como fonte de recursos naturais: diversidade de vespas parasitoides (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea)

Abstract

The biodiversity of the Cerrado is considered high, but knowledge about the insects in this biome is still scarce. This work aimed to understand the community of parasitoid wasps from the Braconidae and Ichneumonidae families, which are specialized in using other insects to develop their offspring. The study was carried out in an area of Gallery Forest in São Carlos, SP and an area of Cerrado stricto sensu, in the Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, where we estimated diversity, richness and abundance of the Braconidae and Ichneumonidae fauna. In the Gallery Forest, 14 subfamilies of Braconidae and 12 subfamilies of Ichneumonidae were recorded, with Microgastrinae (Braconidae), Ichneumoninae and Campopleginae (Ichneumonidae) being the most abundant. In the Cerrado stricto sensu, there were 9 subfamilies of Braconidae and 13 of Ichneumonidae, with greater abundance of Ichneumoninae, Campopleginae and Cryptinae (Ichneumonidae). A new species, considered rare, was found in Gallery Forest, belonging to the genus Gnamptodon (Braconidae, Telengaiinae). The results of this work are relevant to increasing knowledge of the parasitoid wasp fauna in Brazil, including data on their biological interactions.