DISSERTATION RESEARCH: A global molecular phylogeny of the problematic genus Epyris (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae)

寄生蜂在世界各地都有发现，为了完成它们的生命周期，它们首先寄生在另一种昆虫身上，并最终杀死它。一些黄蜂是潜在的生物防治剂，因为它们寄生于主要害虫，如咖啡浆果蛀虫和脐橙蠕虫，甚至是翡翠灰蛀虫，它们目前正在摧毁北美的硬木森林。寄生蜂在控制害虫方面的农业和经济重要性是显而易见的，但选择正确的寄生蜂是困难的。寄生蜂种类繁多，选择错误的黄蜂可能会带来可怕的后果——它们可能会把本地黄蜂赶出类似的生态位，自己也会成为害虫。通过研究进化历史和生成系统发育树来解释不同黄蜂群体之间的关系，为应用昆虫学家提供了一个必要的比较框架，从而可以评估生物学标准。有了系统发育，昆虫学家可以追踪寄主选择的进化，生物地理变化，并测试引入寄生蜂成功的预测。作为一项影响更广泛的倡议，研究人员将以之前成功的一系列科学漫画为基础，利用拟寄生蜂作为一个吸引人的话题，向高中学生介绍拟寄生蜂、进化和分类学的话题。在这个项目中，研究重点是Epyris黄蜂，这是贝西利科最大的属之一，已经被证明是非单系的，这意味着它可能由几个不同的属组成。在之前的研究中，基于来自26个国家的150个淫羊藿类群的5个基因（16S, CytB， COI， 18S和28S）的DNA序列进行了系统发育，得到了一个非单系淫羊藿的进化树。虽然该属是多系的，但在整个系统发育过程中，有一些命名的单系群，可能代表了需要描述的新属。为了更好地解决Epyrinae之间的关系，这项新研究将包括50多个代表潜在新属的Epyrinae物种，并将添加三个核蛋白编码基因数据集-伸长因子-1 α，长波Opsin和无翼基因，最终形成由8个基因和200个分类群组成的最终矩阵。这些数据将使用简约、最大似然和贝叶斯系统发育方法进行分析。这三种蛋白质编码基因有望解决先前系统发育中存在的歧义，并为新属提供更大的支持。通过这一新的系统发育，以及随后的形态学分析，研究人员将修订旧龙属的分类，描述新属，并为龙科的广泛传播提供新的鉴定钥匙。

Parasitoid wasps are found worldwide and in order to complete their life cycle they first parasitize another insect and eventually kill it. Some wasps are potential biocontrol agents because they parasitize major pest insects such as the Coffee Berry Borer and Navel Orange Worm, and even the Emerald Ash Borer, which currently decimates North American hardwood forests. The agricultural and economic importance of parasitoid wasps in controlling destructive insects is clear, but choosing the correct wasp is difficult. Parasitoid wasps are extremely diverse and choosing the wrong wasp can have dire consequences - they may oust native wasps from similar niches and become pests themselves. Studying the evolutionary history and producing phylogenetic trees explaining the relationships amongst different groups of wasps helps applied entomologists by providing a necessary comparative framework upon which biological criteria can be assessed. With a phylogeny, entomologists can track the evolution of host choice, biogeographical changes, and test predictions of introduced parasitoid success. As a broader impact initiative, the researchers will build off of a previously successful series of science comics, using parasitoid wasps as an engaging topic to introduce high school students to topics of parasitoidism, evolution, and systematics. In this project, the research focus is on the Epyris wasps, one of the largest genera in Bethylidae, which has been shown to be non-monophyletic, meaning that it is likely composed of several distinct genera. In prior research, a phylogeny of 150 Epyrinae taxa from 26 countries based upon DNA sequences from five genes (16S, CytB, COI, 18S and 28S) resulted in an evolutionary tree with a non-monophyletic Epyris. While the genus is polyphyletic as currently circumscribed, there were monophyletic groups of named Epyris species spread throughout Epyrinae phylogeny that likely represent new genera in need of description. To better resolve relationships among Epyrinae, fifty more species of Epyris representing potentially new genera will be included within this new research and three nuclear protein-coding gene data sets -- Elongation factor-1 alpha, long-wavelength Opsin, and Wingless -- will be added, resulting in a final matrix comprising eight genes and 200 taxa. These data will be analyzed using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian phylogenetic methods. The three protein-coding genes are expected to resolve ambiguities present in prior phylogenies and provide greater support for new genera. With this new phylogeny, and subsequent morphological analysis, the researchers will revise the taxonomy of the old Epyris, describe new genera, and produce a new identification key for the Epyrinae for broad dissemination.