A Comunidade de abelhas (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) de uma área de cerrado (Corumbataí, SP) e suas visitas às flores

Ricardo Andena, SergioRolandi Bego, LuciRita Mechi, Maria

Bees are responsible for 30 to 90% of plant species pollination in the Brazilian forests, some of which are exclusively pollinated by bees. Due to the threats to our ecosystems, research on this subject is necessary to obtain concrete data about the bees importance. This work aimed to study the community of bees in the Reserva de Cerrado de Corumbataí (São Paulo state, Brazil), as of its composition, relative abundance, dominance,phenology and finally flowers visits. It also aimed to verify if any changes eventually occurred in the area, by comparing the obtained results with another work performed in the same area, 16 years ago. The bees were captured on flowers. Fortnightly, during a year, we collected a total of 923 bees, belonging to 5 families and 103 species. In the flora study, we collected 119 species, belonging to 38 families and 92 genera. In relation to the previous work, we found evidence that the fauna wasmodified. The difference in bee fauna and flora composition can be due to several factors: antropic action, substitution of surrounding areas by sugar cane and cattle field, among others.