Social wasps of Unilavras/Boqueirão Biological Reserve, Ingaí, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Social wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) usually build nests using vegetable materials mixed with water and salivary secretion, resulting in a product similar to paper. Between April 2009 and March 2010 an inventory of these wasps was made at Unilavras/Boqueirão Biological Reserve, located in the municipality of Ingaí-MG. Thirty four species of social wasps belonging to ten genera were recorded, Polybia fastidiosuscula Saussure (1854) was the most common.