Comunidades de térmites em plantações de eucalipto no Litoral Norte da Bahia, Brasil

Abstract

Termites are insects best known for economic damage they cause, whether in urban areas, grassland or cropland, as sugar cane plantations and that the benefits they bring their activities to the ecosystems of which they belong. This study aimed to know the species of termites found in eucalyptus plantations of Copener Florestal Ltda, in order to contribute to knowledge about the termitofauna the region. The study was conducted in six areas recently harvested from Eucalyptus spp. of this company in december of 2005 through six transects following the protocol proposed by Jones and Eggleton (2000), which determines transects 100m long and 2m wide, divided into 20 plots (2 x 5m) contiguous. Each plot was sampled for 1 h / person and taken in each subdivision 12 soil samples from up to 10 cm deep, to collect termites. Were collected 35 species of termites belonging to 21 genera and two families, in a total of 826 samples in six areas, with five species occurred in all areas and 8 were exclusive. The family Termitidae represented 98.67% of samples and Rhinotermitidae only 1.33%. Ten species were dominant, all belonging to the family Termitidae. The dominant species belonging to the subfamily Apicotermitinae were: Anoplotermes sp.1, with a frequency of 15.3% and Anoplotermes sp.2, with 3.1%. In subfamily Termitinae were Amitermes amifer, with 14%; Microcerotermes sp. with 8.5%, and Termes sp. with 4% frequency. In subfamily Nasutitermitinae: Nasutitermes corniger, with 13.9% frequency; Diversitermes sp., whose frequency was 7.3%; Nasutitermes sp.1, with 5.1%; Velocitermes heteropterus with 4.4% and Constrictotermes cyphergaster, with 3.1% frequency. The functional group with the greatest number of species was consume humus, with 14 species and the number of samples of termites, wood feeders habit was superior to those of other functional groups (51.3%). The sampling effort was sufficient to collect most of the existing fauna of termites in their areas. The importance of this work stands out for its pioneering character on the north coast of Bahia and should be considered as a starting point for future studies of the termitofauna in eucalypt plantations in north coast of Bahia.