Protocol for collecting Mutillidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) in ecological studies: species-area effects on Mutillidae communities

ABSTRACT The species-area relationship is one of the most consistent patterns in ecology, and fragmentation is a major cause of habitat loss. Environmental changes in a site can affect the spatial distribution of organisms. Knowledge of Mutillidae ecology is still scarce due to the lack of standardized sampling. Our aim was to: (1) determine the effect of habitat fragmentation on the Mutillidae community and (2) establish a standard method for sampling Mutillidae in ecological studies. Sampling was conducted in four fragments of Brazilian Savanna in an urbanized matrix. We used quadrats with d...