ABSTRACT
From September, 92 to August, 93 bee sampling was done in a secondary forest near the Pepital River, in Alc⮴ara, MA, in order to study the local Euglossini fauna. Five aromatic compounds were used: eucaliptol, eugenol, methyl salicylate, vanillin, and benzoate. Four hundred sixty-seven male Euglossini bees were captured, distributed in 4 genus and 19 species. Euglossa was the most abundant and with high diversity (302 specimens and 14 species), followed by Eulaema (121; 3), Eufriesea (41; 1), and Exaerete (3; 1). The species which more frequently visited the bait were Euglossa piliventris (141 specimens; 30.19 percent), Euglossa cingulata (113; 24.21 percent), Euglossa ignita (45; 9.64 percent), Eufriesea pulchra (41; 8.78 percent), and Euglossa gaianii (33; 7.07 percent) corresponding to 79.88 percent of the sampling universe. The bees were active throught the year, however during the rainy season more activity and diversity were observed. The most attractive essence was eucaliptol (44.32 percent specimens and 84.21 percent species). In spite of this study having been done in a forest fragment, a secondary vegetation area smaller than other areas studied in Maranh䯬 it showed a significant diversity rate. This result reinforces the importance of fragments in the conservation of local bee communities