Countering the taxonomic impediment of aculeate wasps: micro- and macroregional visions of the neotropical fauna

• Grant number: 19/09215-6
• Support type: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• Duration: April 01, 2020 - March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal researcher: Fernando Barbosa Noll
• Grantee: Fernando Barbosa Noll
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Eduardo Andrade Botelho de Almeida
• Assoc. researchers: Graham Ronald Brown ; Eduardo Fernando dos Santos ; Felipe Vieira de Freitas ; James Michael Carpenter ; John Warren Wenzel ; Lars Krogmann ; Sergio Ricardo Andena
• Associated grant(s): 20/07895-7 - Multi-user Equipment approved in grant 2019/09215-6: name of the equipment: stereomicroscope Leica model M205C, AP.EMU
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/07258-0 - Comparative anatomic thoracic musculature of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila): classical and contemporary techniques, BP.DR; 21/02196-6 - A phylogenomic study of Aculeata focusing on the families traditionally placed in Vespoidea and their neotropical components, BP.PD; 21/00766-0 - Revisiting neotropical Zethus Fabricius, 1804 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae): integrating old and new datasets for phylogeny and exploring taxonomy, BP.PD; + associated scholarships 20/06632-2 - Fauna of the Neotropical Thynninae: distribution and new morphological and molecular data for the taxonomy of the group, BP.PD; 20/06633-9 - Biogeography of Epiponini (Vespidae, Polistinae): diversity, distribution and evolutionary history of the Neotropical Region, BP.PD; 20/06634-5 - Curation of the Hymenoptera collection of the Department of Zoology and botany, IBILCE / UNESP, São José do Rio Preto and data tabulation, BP.TT - associated scholarships

Abstract

Taxonomy is the branch of biology that names, describes, identifies and classifies living and extinct species and groups, which qualifies it as an important science that serves as the main basis for any policy aimed at avoiding the current biodiversity crisis. In contrast to the need for taxonomists, there has been a decline in the number of professionals and the availability of resources to promote studies in the area, which has been termed "Taxonomic Impediment". However, attempts are not always made to remove such impediments to large groups. Hymenoptera are a good example of a group with high diversity and lack of specialists. It is estimated that the number of Hymenoptera species exceeds 130.000, with 10.000 species only in Brazil. Among them are stinging wasps (Aculeata), a clade that includes Hymenoptera whose ovipositor is modified in sting apparatus. The objective of this proposal is to produce results that contribute to two levels of knowledge. The first is to act in the taxonomic clearing of several families of stinging wasps, in order to produce data that aid in the knowledge and description of the biodiversity of the Neotropical fauna. Second, solve the main systematic and biogeographic problems faced to the knowledge of the diversity of specific taxa within this group. Therefore, taxonomy, systematics and biogeography studies of several Hymenoptera groups that are largely neglected are proposed. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LOPEZ, VINICIUS M.; CARDOSO, RENAN KOBAL DE OLIVEIRA ALVES; CARDOSO, OLIVEIRA ALVES; CEZARIO, RODRIGO R.; GUILLERMO-FERREIRA, RHAINER; SANTOS, EDUARDO F. DOS. New Species of Entypus (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) and notes on the natural history of some Atlantic Forest spider wasps. Zootaxa, v. 5061, n. 2, p. 361-368, NOV 4 2021. Web of Science Citations: 0.

FERNANDES, DANIELL RODRIGO RODRIGUES; RAFAEL, JOSE ALBERTINO; SOBRAL, RAFAEL; DOS SANTOS, EDUARDO FERNANDO. A new combination for Pompilus nesophilus Kirby, 1890 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): a forgotten spider wasp from archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (Pernambuco: Brazil). Zootaxa, v. 5047, n. 2, p. 197-200, SEP 29 2021. Web of Science Citations: 0.