First record of the orchid bee Euglossa imperialis Cockerell , 1922 ( Hymenoptera , Apidae , Euglossina ) in Mato Grosso do Sul state , midwestern Brazil

The occurrence of Euglossa imperialis Cockerell, 1922 is recorded for the first time in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. This paper extends the distribution of the species by about 800 km west of the São Paulo state, its nearest record.


Methods
Sampling was conducted in 2 Cerrado fragments in the municipality of Nova Alvorada do Sul (4.019 km 2 ), located in the southwestern mesoregion of Mato Grosso do Sul.The municipality is at an elevation of approximately 400 m, with average temperatures between 20-24 ºC, annual precipitation ranging between 1600-1900 mm and is under the influence of the tropical climate Am with dry winters (Alvares et al. 2013).The sampling localities of the Euglossa imperialis specimens represent the new record described here (Fig. 1).
We conducted the sampling between the months of July and August 2017 and January 2018.All specimens were captured with the use of bait traps, modified from Campos et al. (1989).The bait traps were exposed for 61 days, totalizing approximately 1464 hours.In each fragment, we used 5 attractive fragrances: cineole, vanillin, methyl salicylate, eugenol and methyl cinnamate.The specimens captured in the bait traps were preserved in a solution of 1 L of alcohol (70%) with detergent liquid and sodium chloride until it was removed, a procedure which was done every 15 days.For the identification of the species, we used the taxonomic keys of Rebêlo and Moure (1995) and Nemésio (2009).MMA and ICMBio authorized the samplings for the study (N: 60018-1).The voucher specimens are deposited in the Museu da Biodiversidade-MuBio, Federal University of Grande Dourados.The images were obtained using a Nikon cam-era mounted on a Discovery.V8 stereomicroscope and the final images were constructed using the software Helicon Focus.The map was produced with the presented record and known literature records (Table 1, Fig. 1).

Discussion
Euglossa imperialis is considered a typical Amazonian species, being also present in the remnants of Atlantic Forest (Rebêlo andMoure 1995, Silveira et al. 2015).Several studies in most environments indicate that the species could be associated with wetter habitats (Mateus et al. 2015, Silveira et al. 2015, Brito et al. 2017).However, this species presents a large occurrence in the Neotropical region (Nemésio and Silveira 2007), being also recorded in more open areas of forests in the Cerrado (Nemésio and Faria 2004, Justino and Augusto 2010, Nemésio 2016).
We recorded males of E. imperialis in 2 sampled fragments of Cerrado, which may indicate the amplitude of occurrence of the species in different phytophysiognomies.In addition, the gallery forests which are also present in the region of sampling, can act as bio-corridors, enabling the species to move around the most diverse habitats as reported by Moura and Schlindwein (2009).
Our record contributes to the knowledge and distribution of the orchid bee fauna throughout the Neotropical region, since the species have a key-role in the pollina- tion process of several botanical families (Dressler 1982, Ramirez et al. 2002).It also shows that the lack of sampling in still under-explored places contributes to the late record of a widely distributed species.We extended the distribution of the species by about 800 km to the west from its nearest record in the São Paulo state (Mateus et al. 2015, Table 1).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Distribution of Euglossa imperialis in Brazil and the new record.

Table 1 .
Surveys of Euglossina bees with Euglossa imperialis records from Brazil.