Morfologia comparada das mandíbulas das fêmeas de vespas da família Sphecidae (Hymenoptera; Apoidea)

Abstract

The apoid wasps, represented by Sphecidae; Crabronidae; Heterogynaidae and Ampulicidae are a group of insects that have a large morphological and behavioral diversity. Along with the bees, comprising the superfamily Apoidea, one of the clades that constitute Aculeata. Despite the diversity of apoid wasps, the morphology of the jaw is very neglected, only superficial aspects are taken into consideration in morphological studies. Therefore, the inclusion of this structure as an object of study in order to improve knowledge about this group of wasps is extremely important, especially with respect to Sphecidae family. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the female's jaws in the sphecid wasps describing the morphological variations of each group, taking into consideration the systematic and phylogenetic knowledge of the taxa. Moreover, it was intended to study possible associations between morphological variation patterns of the jaws and the wasps’ biology, as well as producing a list of characters from the mandibular structural elements that can be used in future studies. Only a few genera of each Sphecidae’s subfamily were analyzed in this work, aiming to sample groups in a way that represent the variation of form and habits within the family in the best possible manner. Moreover, Crabronidae and Ampulicidae families were included here as external groups. A total of 23 genera were considered in the analysis, of which 15 belongs to the family Sphecidae and the remaining belonging to the outgroups. The samples analyzed are from the collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) and it was also borrowed material from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). A survey on the biology, behavior and the use of the jaw in each genus/species was done through consultations on previously published literature, such information was included in the analysis for the study of possible relationships between different lifestyles and use of the jaw. The mandibles were detached from the head of the wasps, described, measured and illustrated. A cladogram of taxa sampled was assembled based on phylogenetic hypotheses already published. The mandibular and biological characters have been optimized on this cladogram, using the criteria of parsimony, to carry out the reconstruction of ancestral states. In this way it was possible to verify the existence of some associations between the morphology of the jaw and the behavior of sphecid wasps.