Nesting habits of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in forest fragments associated with anthropic areas in southeastern Brazil

The community of social wasps and the substrates used for nesting were studied in anthropic environments associated with areas of natural vegetation in the period of March to September of 2015. Three hundred and forty-seven (347) colonies belonging to eighteen (18) species distributed in six genera were recorded. The species with the highest number of colonies were Mischocyttarus cassununga (R. Von Ilhering, 1903) (194 colonies), Mischocyttarus cerberus (Richards, 1940) (50 colonies) and Polybia Paulista (H. Von Ilhering, 1896) (23 colonies). For other species, the record ranged from one to eighteen colonies