Overcoming the Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls in the northeast of Atlantic Forest: The community of bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in a potentially threatened area.

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most threatened biomes with a complex evolutive history compounded by subunits and local endemism. Despite that, many taxa, such as bees, is still poorly known in some regions, including several protected areas. These gaps in diversity and distribution represent an impediment in the knowledge of these important pollinators. In this context, faunistic surveys are valuable tools to explore regional diversity, to decrease the Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls. For this, we conducted an inventory of bees in the largest Atlantic Forest remnant north of São Francisco River. We collected typical bee fauna of Atlantic Forest as Ariphanarthra Moure and other species typical of Amazonian fauna. We also registered a new species of Meliponini and first specimens of Geotrigona xanthopoda Camargo & Moure outside of Caatinga biome. Our data demonstrated that bees in this portion of Atlantic Forest possesses unique elements, reinforcing its heterogenous composition and, the importance of actions to conserving this area as an environmental refuge. Therefore, it is necessary to reassess current government proposals for the implementation of public infrastructure and private developments in the region, which threaten to irreversibly impact the fauna and flora of this portion of the Atlantic Forest.