Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: CARLOS ALBERTO DOS SANTOS SOUZA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
DISCENTE : CARLOS ALBERTO DOS SANTOS SOUZA
DATA : 13/12/2019
HORA: 10:00
LOCAL: DEPARTAMENTO DE CIÊNCIAS AMBIENTAIS DO IF
TÍTULO:

Ecology and behavior of digger wasp Sphex ingens Smith 1856 (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae): conservation subsidies in Brazil

PALAVRAS-CHAVES:

Atlantic Forest of Baixada, co-occurence and detectability, hunter wasp, nesting behavior, metapopulations, philopathy, stenoecium

PÁGINAS: 50
GRANDE ÁREA: Ciências Biológicas
ÁREA: Ecologia
RESUMO:

In recent years, despite the advances made through research on insect conservation, the worsening
decline in populations of countless species has worried scientists and has cast doubt on the
effectiveness of government policies and actions aimed at species conservation, especially when
more than ¾ of the cataloged insect species richness is still totally unknown regarding their roles
played in the functioning or maintenance of the stability of natural ecosystems. Sphex ingens Smith,
1856 is one of 147 species of Sphecidae with confirmed occurrence for some areas in the
Neotropical Region, but there is no precise information on the influence of environmental variables
on the current or potential distribution of S. ingens populations at different scales of the same range.
Thus, basic questions that remain important for understanding the natural history of the species and
assessing its conservation status remain unknown. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating the
ecology and behavior of the wasp Sphex ingens (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae), in order to support
future actions for the conservation of the species in Brazil. Specific objectives focused on: (a)
systematically review what Brazilian science has produced about insect conservation in recent
decades, in order to understand how S. ingens can be inserted into the insect conservation policies
adopted in the country; (b) to analyze the degree of predatory specialization of S. ingens, based on
prey provisioning behavior; (c) to investigate the potential distribution of S. ingens in Brazil and
South America through Species Distribution Modeling, as well as to model the occurrence of S.
ingens populations and habitat use (i.e., nesting sites) in the municipality of Angra dos Reis-RJ (in
development). Insect conservation status reviews in Brazil considered a survey of indexed databases
published until December 2018, while field studies were conducted during the breeding seasons of
S. ingens (i.e., November to March) between 2009 to 2019. Specifically, the predatory behavior of
S. ingens was recorded during expeditions in two locations in the municipality of Angra dos Reis-
RJ, Aventureiro Beach (Aventureiro Sustainable Development Reserve - SDR of Aventureiro:
23°11'21.67”S and 44°19'7.73”WO) Brava Beach Residential Village (Tamoios Environmental
Protection Area – APA of Tamoios: 23°00'31.28”S and 44°29'6.09”WO) in January 2014 and
January 2018. Despite the increase in research in recent decades, knowledge on insect conservation
is strongly biased regarding the production of information among Brazilian biomes, regions or
states, reiterating biases identified in the early 21st century by other studies. However, research on
insect conservation in Brazil generally follows major international trends in addressing community
and habitat preservation (i.e., landscape scale) as a strategy for species conservation. On the other
hand, analyzes of predatory behavior confirmed a high predisposition to specialization in capturing
two species of pseudophilinous katydids, Meroncidius sp. and Pleminia vicina, which is probably
an important mortality factor for these prey populations. In addition, female tree-climbing behavior
may be an important strategy for reducing bird kleptoparasitism during provisioning and/or energy
saving during prey transportation. In Brazil, the high predatory specialization of S. ingens coupled
with the restricted distribution of its populations would be sufficient to meet the premises required
by environmental agencies for future incorporation into the endangered species list. The eventual
inclusion of S. ingens in the endangered species list would be of great value as a short-term
conservation strategy and protection of populations, whose natural history requires urgent
understanding.

MEMBROS DA BANCA:
Externo à Instituição - MAURO SÉRGIO CRUZ SOUZA LIMA - UFPI
Externa à Instituição - CAROLINA RODRIGUES DE ARAÚJO
Presidente - 387289 - ILDEMAR FERREIRA
Interno - 1356331 - JARBAS MARCAL DE QUEIROZ