Classification and Evolution of the Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea)

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9629515 HERATY This award will support a world-wide generic level revision and phylogenetic analysis of the parasitoid wasp family Eucharitidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) based on morphological features of adults and larvae. These minute wasps parasitize ant pupae and the family exhibits different modes of attaining that host association. Evolutionary hypotheses of host association will be tested and mechanisms of host association will be studied intensively by a graduate student among members of the genus Orasema with a focus of these field studies in the southwestern United States. Fifty-six genera are included in the Eucharitidae with greatest species abundance occurring in the tropics; a key to the genera for the world will be produced. Field work in Brazil, South Africa, and Australia is planned to provide larval material and behavioral information for critical taxa. These wasps are important natural population controls for various ant species, including members known to parasitize species in the fire ant genus Solenopsis. This award will provide biological information that might be of use in biological control pest management strategies. A key to genera of the world will be produced for this important parasitic wasp family; a graduate student will be trained in modern methods of systematic research; and our knowledge of this interesting and important component of insect biodiversity will be greatly enhanced.