The study of relationships between living beings is essential for understanding the functioning of the ecosystem for the management and conservation of biota, especially in rich and threatened biomes such as the Brazilian Cerrado. Therefore, this study aims to report the occupation of abandoned social wasp’s nests by termites in this biome. In this study, the occupation of two abandoned nests of Synoeca surinama (L.) by the termite Nasutitermes obscurus (Holmgren), recorded by chance, in April 2023 in a gallery forest with the same vegetation type of the Cerrado, located in the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park in southeastern Brazil. Both social wasp nests had their cells occupied by termites, which may have been used as a satellite nest for N. obscurus. This is the first record of a termite species occupying a social wasp’s nests; however, further studies are needed to better elucidate this relationship.

Chrysotus capellarii Soares & Carvalho-Filho sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on a single specimen collected in the department of Córdoba, Colombia, representing the first record of the longipalpus species group from the country (a photographic record is known from Costa Rica). The new species is easily recognized by the long palpus (about 2x longer than eye height) with a wide and oval apical lamella.

Aedes aegypti Linnaeus mosquito is a vector of several viruses that cause diseases of medical and veterinary importance. Dengue, yellow fever, Zika and Chikungunya viruses are more important arboviruses transmit by mosquitoes. A. aegypti life cycle goes through 4 stages of development and the time for development from egg to adult mosquito depends on a series of biotic and abiotic factors such as temperature, food availability and population density, studied in different species of insects. In this work we studied the effects of different food concentrations, temperatures variation, pH gradient and luminosity on the development of A. aegypti larvae. The eggs were collected in the city of Tangará da Serra/MT and larvae in the L1 stage were used for the tests. The results showed that all the factors studied interfered in the larval development. The increase in food concentration and temperature accelerated the development of larvae to pupae. The acidic pH (pH = 4) proved to be unsuitable for the development of larvae (100% lethality), with the ideal pH for the development of larval stages being equal to pH = 6. Although in all light variations (dark, light and photoperiod 10L/ 14D) there was complete development of the larvae, the photoperiod test proved to be more adequate. This study helps to better understand the success, dispersion and adaptation of the A. aegypti mosquito in different regions under different environmental conditions.

Odonata sampling effort in the state of Minas Gerais has intensified throughout the 21st century. However, research on these insects in some regions and ecosystems such as the Deciduous Forest are incipient, and the effect of prolonged dry periods over these insects is still unknown. This study thus aimed to assess changes in adult Odonata species composition over one year in a Brazilian Deciduous Forest and the Odonata species richness in the Mata Seca State Park in the Manga and Itacarambi municipalities in the Northern region of the state of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Twenty-four days of sampling were distributed in February, May, July and November, adopting an active search through entomological nets close to lentic environments (Lagoa Angical, Lagoa Comprida, Lagoa Encantada, Lagoa da Prata and two wetlands of Lajedo da Lua); lotic environments (São Francisco river) and in associated terrestrial ecosystems. In total, 55 species were collected. Rainy and dry periods altered Odonata communities’ composition but did not affect species richness and abundance due to the presence of permanent lagoons associated with the São Francisco river. This study shows the importance of the Mata Seca State Park for preserving Odonatofauna in the state of Minas Gerais and for protecting those permanent lagoons.

Lepidoptera is a diverse and abundant group of insects, widely used in biodiversity and conservation studies, as it has great social appeal. From this perspective, this study was aimed to conduct a survey of flower – visiting butterfly species in Bosque da Ciência, at the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), an urban forest fragment open to public visitation in the State of Amazonas, Brazil. Thus, attractive plants for nectarivorous butterflies were observed, and the best location and conditions for viewing such diversity, as well as a guide for their identification was proposed. Forty-three species of flower – visiting butterflies were identified, among which Anthoptus epictetus (Fabricius), Ascia monuste (Linnaeus), Anartia jatrophae (Linnaeus), Eurema albula (Cramer) were observed to be more frequent. According to the species accumulation curve, the species richness of butterflies would be higher if greater collection effort were employed. The period of greatest flight activity and flower - visitation occurred from 9 am to 11 am. Of the six attractive plants identified, Stachytarpheta cayennensis (Rich.) and Lantana camara L. were the most visited, so we consider that these species are important for butterfly attractiveness. The butterflies of Bosque da Ciência are a representation of the nectarivores guild of the city of Manaus, Amazonas, and the establishment of an attractive butterfly garden in this place can contribute to the promotion of environmental education by stimulating the knowledge and awareness for biodiversity preservation.

A new species of Paratropis is herein described and illustrated, namely: Paratropis minusculus n. sp. based on males, females and immatures from Potaro-Siparuni, Guyana. Male e female of P. minusculus differ from those of all other species of the genus by having six eyes and by spinneret apical segment domed. In addition, we presented the first record of paratropidid species from Guyana, contribute to the knowledge of local biodiversity.

Insects of the order Hemiptera (Heteroptera) are considered the largest group of insects with incomplete metamorphosis. Representatives of the Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha infraorders are found in the Brazilian Savanna (Cerrado Biome). This manuscript provides information about the occurrence and distribution of families and genera that occur in the states of the Cerrado Biome, deposited in the UnB Aquatic Invertebrate Collection (CIAq-UnB). The collection started in 1995 and have aquatic specimens of Cerrado Biome. An identification key is also presented for the families and genera that occur in this region.

The order Phasmatodea includes insects known as stick insects. In Brazil, few taxonomic, ecological or evolutionary studies have been published in recent years, the reason is related to the few number of researchers dedicated to this particular group. Cladomorphus phyllinus Gray is one of the largest Brazilian insects and perhaps one of the most studied species of Phasmatodea in the country. It is considered as a phytophagous, generalist, and feeds mainly on guava leaves (Psidium guajava), powder-puff (Calliandra sp.) or Angico (Piptania sp.). Females of this species reproduce in a sexual and asexual manner, by the production of diploid daughters from unfertilized eggs (thelytokous parthenogenesis). The absence of records on the reproductive capacity of virgin parthenogenetic females of C. phyllinus led us to record the longevity, fertility, and eggs viability of ten specimens. The results obtained were compared to those found in the scientific literature for mated females of the same species. The fertility and eggs viability were observed to be much lower for the parthenogenetic females when compared to the mated females; however, the longevity for virgin females was longer than that recorded in the literature for mated females.

Ecosystem fragmentation negatively affects biological diversity and compromises different environmental services. This situation occurs in two important biomes in Brazil, the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado. There is little information on the effects of fragmentation on animal taxa, including social wasps. It was hypothesized that fragments that are small in size and subject to anthropogenic pressures have reduced social wasp richness and colony numbers. This study aimed to investigate the effect of forest fragmentation on Polistinae richness and colony number at Atlantic Forest and Cerrado sites in southern central Minas Gerais State, southeastern Brazil. The study was conducted in three fragments, Mata do Baú, Cachoeira da Lajinha, and Cachoeira do Padeiro, from October 2020 to March 2021, using active collection to record social wasp species and colony numbers. A total of 42 species and 80 colonies were recorded in the three fragments. Forest fragment size alone did not influence social wasp communities, but communities were significantly affected by a combination of factors, including fragment size, adjacent vegetation, and anthropogenic pressures. Species richness was higher in Mata do Baú and Cachoeira da Lajinha, which did not differ from each other, than in Cachoeira do Padeiro; however, all fragments had exclusive communities. Therefore, an increase in anthropogenic pressure in any of the three fragments may lead to losses in social wasp species.

In recent years, attention has focused on studies about myrmecofauna in urban environments, due to its high possibility of causing damage to food storage and household structures. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify the genera of ants and analyze their frequency and diversity in two neighborhoods in the municipality of Barreiras-BA. The study was conducted in Riachinho neighborhood, located on the edge of the urban perimeter and in Renato Gonçalves neighborhood in the central area of the city. The ants were collected weekly, using trap baits, in 180 houses, from November 2016 to April 2017. The collected ants were transported to the Zoology and Entomology Laboratory (LaZooEn) in the Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Campus IX. For identification, stereomicroscope and dichotomous key were used. A group of 14,846 ants were collected, of which 9,686 were collected in Renato Gonçalves neighborhood, and 5,160 in Riachinho neighborhood. Three subfamilies were identified, which included ten genera, being Paratrechina, Brachymyrmex and Tapinoma were among the most frequent. Paratrechina was the most representative (85.32%) in Riachinho, and Brachymyrmex, the most frequent in Renato Gonçalves (54.40%). The accumulation curves obtained were satisfactory in both areas, higher than 80%. Regarding Shannon index, it was found that Riachinho presented a lower diversity (H'= 0.663) than in Renato Gonçalves neighborhood (H'= 0.875). Studies addressing the occurrence of myrmecofauna may be paramount to collaborate with conservation practices both in the case of threatened species and for pest control practices.