Collaborative Research: An integrative approach to understanding the evolution and systematics of Chalcidoidea: A recent megaradiation of Hymenoptera

宝石蜂科是陆生生物中物种最丰富、生态最重要、生物多样性最丰富的一类。它们的多样性是惊人的，据信现存的物种超过50万种。这些微小的黄蜂（大多1-2毫米大小）数量丰富，在几乎每个栖息地都很常见。这些黄蜂中最小的比典型的单细胞生物还小，但成年黄蜂可以飞行，找到它们的宿主，产卵，作为幼虫，吃掉它们的昆虫宿主。大多数类胆蜂是寄生蜂；它们以昆虫宿主为食，最终杀死它们。一些群体还进化到攻击植物寄主，一些充当传粉者。物种攻击从卵到成虫的所有生命阶段，并在体内或外部生活和进食。有些是其他拟寄生物的拟寄生物，有些甚至以自己的物种为食。因为它们能杀死其他昆虫，这些黄蜂对于控制农业和森林作物的害虫，以及人类疾病和兽医害虫的媒介非常重要。这些黄蜂在害虫管理中的经济重要性是无与伦比的。它们被广泛应用于主要害虫的生物防治项目中，其结果是减少了农药的使用，增加了产量，在具有里程碑意义的案例中，直接节省了数十亿美元或永久控制害虫。导致这种形态、生物学和多样化率的巨大多样性的进化事件知之甚少，导致了一种人工的分类分类系统。在这个研究项目中，研究人员将使用多种分子、形态学和生物信息学方法来深入了解整个群体的关系层次。然后，这些关系将用于对主要群体进行重新分类，以反映共同的祖先，为可访问的门户网站提供框架，以管理和传递有关其多样性生物学的信息，并探索驱动和塑造这种巨大辐射的陆地昆虫的进化变化。该研究项目的目标是：1)利用来自400多个物种的转录组和目标DNA浓缩的新数据，生成强有力的Chalcidoidea分子系统发育；2)生成来自始新世和白垩纪琥珀的200多个化石的形态学数据，并将这些数据与现有分类群的综合形态学数据集相结合；3)通过一系列研讨会和全球合作，以书的形式对Chalcidoidea进行修订分类。4)在4万多篇参考文献中提供31000多个可用名称的分类、生物学和分布信息。该项目将培养两名博士后、一名研究生和几名本科生。为了使更广泛的科学界参与进来，一个由世界范围内的生物防治研究人员和分类学家组成的小组将开发一种新的蠓科分类方法。与研究和推广专家小组一起，该项目将制作海报、传单、标本教育包和其他教育材料，供课堂和推广专家、农业顾问、博物学家和园艺大师以及公众使用，以提高对这一具有魅力和重要的昆虫群体的兴趣和了解。

Chalcidoidea (jewel wasps) are among the most species rich, ecologically important, and biologically diverse groups of terrestrial organisms. Their diversity is staggering, with more than 500,000 species thought to exist. These minute wasps (mostly 1-2 mm in size) are numerically abundant and common in almost every habitat. The smallest of these wasps are smaller than a typical single-celled organism, and yet the adults can fly, locate their hosts, deposit their eggs, and as larvae, consume their insect hosts. Most chalcidoid wasps are parasitoids; they feed on their insect hosts, eventually killing them. A few groups have also evolved to attack plant hosts and some serve as pollinators. Species attack all life stages from eggs to adults, and live and feed either internally or externally. Some are parasitoids of other parasitoids and some may even feed on their own species. Because they kill other insects, these wasps are extremely important for the control of pests of agricultural and forest crops, as well as vectors of human disease and veterinary pests. The economic importance of these wasps in pest management is unparalleled. They are widely used in biological control programs against major pests, with outcomes documented to result in decreases in pesticide, increases in yield, and in landmark cases direct savings of billions of dollars or permanent pest control. The evolutionary events leading to this enormous diversity in morphology, biology and rates of diversification are poorly understood, leading to an artificial system of taxonomic classification. In this research project, researchers will use a diverse array of molecular, morphological and bioinformatics approaches to develop a solid understanding of the hierarchy of relationships across the entire group. These relationships will then be used to reclassify major groups to reflect common ancestry, to provide a framework for a web-accessible portal to manage and deliver information on their diverse biology, and to explore the evolutionary changes that have driven and shaped this enormous radiation of terrestrial insects.The objectives of the research project are to 1) generate a robust molecular phylogeny of the Chalcidoidea using new data from transcriptomes and targeted DNA enrichment for over 400 species, 2) generate morphological data for over 200 fossils from Eocene and Cretaceous amber and combine these with a comprehensive morphological data set for extant taxa, 3) develop a revised classification of Chalcidoidea in book form through a series of workshops and worldwide collaborations, and 4) make available information on the taxonomy, biology and distribution of over 31,000 available names and information in over 40,000 references. The project will train two postdoctoral researchers, one graduate student and several undergraduates. To involve the wider scientific community, a worldwide group of biocontrol researchers and taxonomists will develop a new classification for Chalcidoidea. With groups of Research and Extension Specialists, the project will develop posters, fliers, specimen education kits, and other educational materials for use in the classroom and by extension specialists, agricultural advisors, master naturalists and master gardeners, and the general public to develop a greater interest and understanding of this charismatic and and important group of insects.