Data from: Seasonal and interannual variation on social wasps’ assemblages in two habitats of a seasonally dry tropical forest region

The patterns of the spatial distribution of insects in seasonally dry
tropical forests (SDTFs) are strongly influenced by marked seasonal
fluctuations. Tropical arthropod seasonality has been linked to multiple
factors, ranging from microclimate changes to large-scale environmental
processes. The group of social wasps includes eusocial organisms that play
essential roles in ecosystems, acting as pollinators and predators. This
study examines the variation in abundance and species richness according
to season, rainfall, and temperature in an area of the Caatinga biome in
northeastern Brazil, which has distinct vegetation characteristics. Four
years of continuous sampling with Malaise traps constituted the
medium-term data used in our study. During dry seasons, populations of
xerophytic vegetation experienced significant decreases in abundance,
which were associated with decreased rainfall; however, we did not observe
the same effect in evergreen vegetation. Mesic habitats have less
variation in food resources, which may have kept populations active during
droughts. However, during wet periods, especially after heavy rainfall,
more individuals were recorded in the xeric area compared with the mesic
area. Using results from social wasp populations, we conclude that the
spatio-temporal dynamics of insects in forest areas with seasonal
characteristics are greatly affected by factors such as the landscape
composition and mainly by the distribution of rainfall.