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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424586
Research Project: Systematics of Beetles, Flies, Moths and Wasps with an Emphasis on Agricultural Pests, Invasive Species, Biological Control Agents, and Food Security

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Phasing in and out of phytophagy phylogeny and evolution of the family Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera Chalcidoidea) based on Ultraconserved Elements

Author
item ZHANG, MILES - University Of Florida
item DELVATE, GERAD - Cirad, France
item BLAIMER, BONNIE - Museum Of Naturkunde
item CRUAUD, ASTRID - Cirad, France
item RASPLUS, J.-Y. - Cirad, France
item BRADY, SEAN - Smithsonian Institute
item Gates, Michael

Submitted to: Systematic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2025
Publication Date: 4/18/2025
Citation: Zhang, M.Y., Delvate, G., Blaimer, B., Cruaud, A., Rasplus, J., Brady, S.G., Gates, M.W. 2025. Phasing in and out of phytophagy phylogeny and evolution of the family Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera Chalcidoidea) based on Ultraconserved Elements. Systematic Entomology. 2025:1-14. 418546. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12682.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12682

Interpretive Summary: Parasitic wasps contain species that may be beneficial (e.g. biological control of insect pests) or destructive (e.g. plant-feeding wasps that can cause agricultural losses and natural habitat degradation). Determining the identity of these wasps, especially if unknown to science, and their relationships to one another is critical for decision-making, i.e. is it a potential pest to control or a potential beneficial to encourage. Eurytomid wasps are an example of parasitic wasps fitting this description. Our research group deciphered the evolutionary relationships of these wasps in order produce a predictive framework to aid regulatory decisions. Further, our results indicate some changes that can be made to the eurytomid classification to reduce confusion amongst stakeholders relative to the identification of these wasps. Our work provides stability and diagnostics that will be used by biocontrol workers, entomologists, ecologists, and foresters.

Technical Abstract: We present the first global molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the family Eurytomidae, a group of chalcidoid wasps with diverse biology, with a representative sampling (197 ingroups and 11 outgroups) that covers all described subfamilies, and 70% of the known genera. Analyses of 962 Ultra-Conserved Elements (UCEs) with concatenation (IQ-TREE) and multispecies coalescent approaches (ASTRAL) resulted in highly supported topologies in recovering the monophyly of Eurytomidae and its four subfamilies. The taxonomy of Eurytomidae, and in particular the large subfamily Eurytominae, needs major revisions as most large genera are recovered as para- or polyphyletic, and the erection of multiple new genera is required in the future to accommodate these taxa. Here, we synonymize the genera Cathilaria (C. certa, C. globiventris, C. opuntiae, and C. rigidae) and the monotypic Aiolomorphus rhopaloides within Tetramesa syn. nov., Parabruchophagus (P. kazakhstanicus, P. nikolskaji, P. rasnitsyni, P. saxatilis, and P. tauricus) and Exeurytoma (E. anatolica, E. caraganae, and E. kebanensis) within Bruchophagus syn. nov.. We also provide 137 DNA barcode COI fragments extracted from the UCE contigs to aid in future identifications of Eurytomidae using this popular genetic marker. Eurytomidae most likely originated in South America, North America, or Africa, with an estimated crown age of 83.37 Ma. Ancestral state reconstruction indicates that secondary phytophagy has evolved at least seven times within the subfamily Eurytominae, showcasing the evolutionary flexibility of these vastly understudied wasps.