Systematics of Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea)

真charitidae是攻击真社会性昆虫的最多样化的寄生类群之一。所有的幼蚁都是蚂蚁蛹的特化寄生虫。雌性存款他们的卵在植物组织，和活跃的第一龄幼虫负责获得运输到蚁穴。它们在热带地区最常见，但也有少数物种出现在阿拉斯加和育空地区。利用成虫的75个形态特征对53个属进行系统发育分析的初步结果表明，Eucharitidae与其蚂蚁宿主之间的关系具有很强的相关性：1）Myrmicinae的寄生似乎与使用蓟马中间宿主进入蚂蚁窝有关，2）Ponerinae的寄生与独立幼虫有关，蚁亚科的寄生与蚁对卵块的吸引有关。从28S rDNA的D2和D3扩展区域收集的数据的初步结果显示出与基于形态学的分析结果的强对应性，但并非没有需要解决的关键冲突区域。如果得到有力的证实，分子分析将被用来重新评估形态特征状态编码，也意味着转换系列，使一个更解决的假设，可以提出所有属的基础上形态。初步分析表明，Gollumiella和Akapala是建立在Eucharitidae的行为变化的极性的关键因素，并强调将获得新的收藏和生物学信息，这些属。如果使用蓟马中间宿主被证明是Oraseminae和Eucharitinae的祖先模式，这将表明家庭的原始行为，并可能表明最初的主机转移到蚂蚁可能已经发生。在Trigonalyoidea和Elasmus（Chalcidoidea），适应寄生的真社会宿主可能已经完成了通过主机转移的祖先，这些鳞翅目昆虫宿主hyperparasitic hyperteran捕食者。如果这些类群都能通过猎物适应捕食者，那么这一假设也适用于其他真社会性昆虫的寄生蜂。在自然界或农业系统中，小蜂总科是控制昆虫种群数量的重要类群之一。在估计的40万种物种中，只有大约2万种被命名，而已知生物学的物种要少得多，这是一个相对未知的群体。在这一组合中，Eucharitidae是不寻常的，因为属和种是众所周知的，它们具有相对保守的生物学，与最初的关系分析相一致。此外，它们还表现出高度的地理特有性，这与大约4000万至7000万年前南部大陆的分裂相对应。通过使用多种方法（分子，形态和行为）提供一个强大的系统发育假说，我们可以更好地了解宿主转移的机制和分类多样性的相关增加。一个解决的系统发育和理解的行为进化为Eucharitidae将形成一个模型系统，为未来的比较研究在整个超家庭。

Eucharitidae are one of the most diverse parasitic groups attacking eusocial insects. All eucharitid larvae are specialized parasites of ant pupae. Females deposit their eggs in plant tissue, and the active first-instar larvae are responsible for gaining transport to the ant nest. They are most common in tropical regions, but a few species occur as far north as Alaska and the Yukon. Initial results from a phylogenetic analysis of the 53 genera using 75 morphological features of adults indicate a strong correlation between the relationships of Eucharitidae and their ant hosts: 1) parasitism of Myrmicinae appears correlated with use of a thrips intermediate host to gain access to the ant brood, 2) parasitism of Ponerinae is correlated with independent larvae, and 3) parasitism of Formicinae is associated with the attraction of ants to the egg mass. Preliminary results from data collected for the D2 and D3 expansion regions of 28S rDNA show a strong correspondence with results from morphology-based analyses, but not without critical areas of conflict that need to be resolved. If strongly corroborated, molecular analyses will be used to reevaluate morphological character state coding and also to imply transformation series so that a more resolved hypothesis can be proposed for all genera based on morphology alone. Preliminary analyses suggest that Gollumiella and Akapala are key elements for establishing the polarity of behavioral changes in Eucharitidae, and emphasis will be made on obtaining new collections and biological information for these genera. If use of a thrips intermediate host is shown to be an ancestral mode for Oraseminae and Eucharitinae, this would suggest the behavior as primitive for the family and might indicate how the initial host shift to ants may have occurred. In Trigonalyoidea and Elasmus (Chalcidoidea), adaptation to parasitism of eusocial hosts may have been accomplished through a host shift from ancestors that were hyperparasitic in lepidopteran hosts to the hymenopteran predators of those Lepidoptera. If adaptation through a prey item to the predator is true for each of these groups, this general hypothesis could be applied to other parasitoids of eusocial insects.In natural or agricultural systems, Chalcidoidea are one of the most important groups controlling insect populations. With only about 20,000 of the estimated 400,000 thousand species named, and far fewer with known biology, this is a relatively unknown group. Eucharitidae are unusual within this assemblage because the genera and species are well known and they have a relatively conservative biology that corresponds with the initial analyses of relationships. As well, they show a high degree of geographic endemism that corresponds with the breakup of the southern continents approximately 40 to 70 million years ago. By providing a robust phylogenetic hypothesis using multiple methods (molecular, morphological and behavioral), we can better understand the mechanism of host shifts and the correlated increase in taxonomic diversity. A resolved phylogeny and understanding of behavioral evolution for Eucharitidae would form a model system for future comparative studies across the superfamily.