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

寄生蜂在世界各地随处可见，为了完成它们的生命周期，它们首先寄生另一种昆虫，然后最终杀死它。一些黄蜂是潜在的生防剂，因为它们寄生于主要害虫，如咖啡浆果害虫和脐橙害虫，甚至翡翠白蜡虫，它目前摧毁了北美的硬木森林。寄生蜂在控制破坏性昆虫方面的农业和经济重要性是显而易见的，但选择正确的黄蜂是困难的。寄生蜂种类繁多，选择了错误的黄蜂可能会产生可怕的后果--它们可能会把本地黄蜂赶出类似的生态位，成为害虫。研究进化历史并生成系统发育树，解释不同黄蜂群体之间的关系，通过提供一个必要的比较框架来评估生物学标准，有助于应用昆虫学家。有了系统发育学，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。作为一项更广泛的影响计划，研究人员将在之前成功的一系列科学漫画的基础上，使用寄生蜂作为一个引人入胜的主题，向高中生介绍寄生虫学、进化论和分类学的主题。在这个项目中，研究的重点是Epyris黄蜂，它是Bethylidae中最大的属之一，已被证明是非单系进化的，这意味着它可能由几个不同的属组成。在先前的研究中，基于5个基因(16S、cytb、COI、18S和28S)的DNA序列对来自26个国家的150个眼雀亚科分类群的系统发育进行了研究，得出了一个具有非单系进化的进化树。虽然该属是多系的，但有一些命名为Epyris种的单系类群分布在Epyrinae的系统发育中，可能代表了需要描述的新属。为了更好地解决眼雀亚科之间的关系，这项新的研究将包括代表潜在新属的另外50种眼镜蛇，并将增加三个核蛋白编码基因数据集--伸长因子-1α、长波视蛋白和无翼，最终形成一个由8个基因和200个分类群组成的矩阵。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。这三个编码蛋白质的基因有望解决先前系统发育中存在的歧义，并为新的属提供更大的支持。根据这一新的系统发育和随后的形态分析，研究人员将修订旧的Epyris的分类，描述新的属，并产生新的识别检索表，以供广泛传播。

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.