PEET: Monographic Research on Parasitic Hymenoptera

寄生蜂种类繁多。至少有一半的物种尚未被正式描述，在72,000个被描述的物种中，许多物种相对而言鲜为人知，而且众所周知难以识别。事实上，所有的寄生蜂都会攻击并杀死其他昆虫，而且许多寄生蜂似乎对宿主有很强的特异性。因此，它们是自然生态系统复杂食物网的重要组成部分，也是管理生态系统中害虫天敌的宝贵来源。研究一些最大的寄生蜂科的专家逐渐减少，导致了这样一种情况：识别属和描述物种所必需的知识体系现在只掌握在极少数衰老的个体手中。这个问题将通过一个指导过程来解决，在这个过程中，受训者将成为三种更大、更困难的寄生蜂群体的专家的学徒。通过具体的合作协议，学生将受益于优秀的专家，这些专家监督着无与伦比的收藏资源，而他们在这些焦点小组（分类群）方面的专业知识很快就会消失。学员将描述大量的新物种，并准备全面的分类论文（专著），这将有助于识别并为所有未来的昆虫工作提供必要的基础。随着专题研究不可避免地走向完全电子化输出，综合图像数据库将成为必不可少的组成部分。在专题过程的成像方面的协作努力的协同性为我们的学员提供了一个令人兴奋的机会直接参与（并作出实质性贡献）这一发展。学员将编写约130个分类群的专题论文（栉蚊属姬蜂科110属和蝶蜂科110属，姬蜂属Pantorhaestes Foerster和无花果属Agrostocynips Diaz各约10种）。还将编制一份迫切需要的目录，澄清约900种已描述的真油葵科植物的现状和属位。培养下一代科学家是PEET项目的重要组成部分，该项目的合作性质，以及其多样化的杰出专家，将为学生提供现代系统学研究各个方面的特别广泛的培训和经验。本项目将培养一名博士后和三名博士研究生，几名本科生将协助策展和成像。本项目学员提供的寄生蜂的改进分类和更多的自然分类将有助于更好地表征和管理生物多样性。寄生蜂在应用项目（如生物防治）中的效用意味着该项目还直接支持以更可持续的农业为目标的研究，减少对环境的负面影响。

Parasitic wasps are extraordinarily diverse. At least half of the species have not yet been formally described, and many of the 72,000 described species are comparatively poorly known and notoriously difficult to identify. Virtually all parasitic wasps attack and kill other insects and many appear to be quite host-specific. They are therefore essential components in the complex food webs of natural ecosystems and they provide a valuable source of natural enemies for pest insects in managed ecosystems. The gradual attrition of specialists on some of the largest families of parasitic wasps has led to a situation in which the body of knowledge necessary to recognize genera and describe species now resides with a very few, aging individuals. This problem will be addressed by a mentoring process whereby trainees are apprenticed to specialists in three of the larger, more difficult groups of parasitic wasps. Through specific cooperative agreements, students will benefit from outstanding specialists who oversee unmatched collection resources and whose expertise in these focal groups (taxa) will soon be lost. Trainees will describe numerous new species and prepare comprehensive taxonomic treatises (monographs) that will facilitate identification and provide the essential foundation for all future work on these insects. As monographic research heads inexorably towards fully electronic output, comprehensive image databases will become essential ingredients. The synergistic nature of the collaborative effort on the imaging aspects of the monographic process provides our trainees with an exciting opportunity to participate directly (and contribute substantially) to this development. Trainees will prepare monographic treatments for approximately 130 taxa (110 genera in the ctenopelmatine Ichneumonidae and ambositrine Diapriidae and about 10 species each in the ichneumonid genus Pantorhaestes Foerster and the figitid genus Agrostocynips Diaz). A badly needed catalog clarifying the status and generic placement of the approximately 900 described species of eucoiline Figitidae will also be prepared. Training of the next generation of scientists is an essential component of the PEET program, and the collaborative nature of the project, with its diverse array of outstanding specialists, will provide exceptionally broad training and experience for the students in all aspects of modern, collection-based systematics research. One postdoctoral and three Ph.D. students will be trained under this program, and several undergraduate students will assist with curation and imaging. The improved taxonomy and more natural classifications of parasitic wasps provided by trainees under this program will enable better characterization and management of biological diversity. The utility of parasitic wasps in applied programs (such as biological control) means that this project also directly supports research that targets a more sustainable agriculture with fewer negative impacts on the environment.