Diversity of Belytinae (Hymenoptera: Diaprioidea: Diapriidae) along a latitudinal gradient of Atlantic Ombrophilous Dense Forest

• Grant number: 13/03753-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: July 01, 2013
• End date: June 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Roberto Ferreira Brandão
• Grantee: Alex Leite Quadros
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Belytinae (Hymenoptera: Diaprioidea: Diapriidae) are parasitoids of larvae and pupae of Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae (Diptera). The knowledge about the diversity of this subfamily in the Atlantic Forest biome is very poor. One aim of the project will be to determine the spatial distribution of the richness of this subfamily along a latitudinal gradient of Atlantic Ombrophilous Dense Forest, which may or may not be in agreement with the trends observed in the literature. Another aim will be to try to get an explanation for this pattern of richness. Furthermore it will be used a morphometric measure of the recognized species to evaluate if the size distribution of these parasitoids at each site is continuous or aggregate. It will be used specimens of Belytinae obtained in 18 sites between the years 2000 and 2002, in the project "Richness and Diversity of Hymenoptera and Isoptera along a latitudinal gradient in the Atlantic forest - the Eastern Brazilian Rain Forest " (Biota / SP - FAPESP). The identified specimens of Belytinae will be separated by site and subsequently into morphospecies. In the morphometric analysis, the length of the mesosoma will be used as index of the individual's total size. It will be counted the number of specimens of each site and it will be defined the richness (highest value of the total of morphospecies obtained at each point). To check if there was consistent pattern of distribution along the latitudinal gradient it will be applied linear regression to dispersion curves of three variables (richness, Shannon index and Pielou index). There will be a mapping of occurrence, a diagnosis and illustration of the morphospecies found.