Euglossa analis Westwood, 1840

Nemésio, André, 2010, The orchid-bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of a forest remnant in northeastern Brazil, with new geographic records and an identification key to the known species of the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 2656, pp. 55-66 : 62-63

Euglossa analis Westwood, 1840

Euglossa analis is a widespread species in both the Amazon Basin and the Atlantic Forest. Nonetheless, it has been treated as a species highly dependent on large and densely forested areas ( Tonhasca Jr. et al. 2002; Nemésio & Silveira 2006b). In the Atlantic Forest, this species was recorded from southern Bahia to northeastern São Paulo, always in large preserves of forest [>10,000 ha; e.g., (i) Reserva Natural Vale, Linhares, Espírito Santo ( Bonilla-Gómez 1999), (ii) Reserva Biológica de Sooretama, Sooretama, Espírito Santo (A. Nemésio, unpub. data), (iii) Parque Estadual do Desengano, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro ( Tonhasca Jr. et al. 2002), (iv) Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, Ubatuba, São Paulo ( Nemésio 2009), (v) Parque Estadual do Rio Doce, Marliéria, Minas Gerais ( Nemésio & Silveira 2006b), (vi) Parque Nacional do Monte Pascoal, Porto Seguro, Bahia (A. Nemésio, unpub. data), (vii) Parque Nacional do Descobrimento, Prado, Bahia (A. Nemésio, unpub. data)].

This is the northernmost record of this species in the Atlantic Forest domain, extending its geographic distribution over 1,000 Km northwards compared to its previous known occurrence (southern Bahia) and also the smallest forest patch where this species has ever been recorded. The occurrence of Euglossa analis at ESEC Murici, together with other potentially forest dependent species such as Eulaema felipei and Euglossa roubiki , reinforces the suggestion that this area has a very important strategic role concerning the conservation of orchid bees in northeastern Brazil. Moreover, it also shed some light on biogeography, especially on the discussion on the possible routes used by orchid bees when the two largest forested biomes of South America were connected. Although it is highly accepted that a connection between the Amazon and the Atlantic forest existed via northeastern Brazil (e.g., Coimbra-Filho & Câmara 1996; Vivo 1997; Costa 2003; Vivo & Carmignotto 2004), other hypotheses also suggest central Brazil as an alternative route, even for orchid bees ( Dressler 1979; Nemésio & Silveira 2004, 2006c; Nemésio et al. 2007). This record shows that the absence of Eg. analis from the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil was an artifact created by the fact that appropriate habitat for this species (and other highly sensitive species) was almost entirely wiped out. The previously studied remaining forest fragments seem to be not large enough to sustain viable populations of those species highly dependent on habitats found deeply in the interior of forests. This finding shows that Eg. analis , and probably other sensitive species such as Euglossa cognata Moure, 1970 (not recorded at ESEC Murici but usually found at the same areas where Eg. analis occurs), could have been once widespread in northeastern Brazil but became extinct in most of its original Atlantic Forest range, only surviving in the largeest preserves in northeastern and southeastern Brazil.

Unfortunately, the situation faced by this area is dramatic (owners of the land where the ESEC Murici was established were not yet paid by the government; intensive land use; few personnel to patrol the area; presence of hunters, wood dealers and even an entire population of over 6,000 people established by the government around the ESEC Murici in an official program to distribute land to poor families—reviewed by Nemésio 2010). Populations of many threatened animal and plant species occurring at the area are rapidly declining (e.g., Olmos 2005; Tabarelli et al. 2006a, b) and there is no reason to believe that the same fate will not be met by the most sensitive orchid-bee species of the area, especially Euglossa analis and Eulaema felipei .