John M. Heraty

• University of California, Riverside

Family, tribal and generic concepts of some taxa within, or historically associated with, Aphelinidae are revised. At the family level, we transfer Noyesaphytis from Aphelinidae to Azotidae, and we remove Encarsia gallicola and Encarsia metallica from Encarsia and place them in Galeopsomyia (Eulophidae: Tetrastichinae) as nomina dubia. At the subfa...

The circumscription of the family Ormyridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) is revised after phylogenetic analysis based on ultra‐conserved elements (UCEs) and comparative morphological assessment of the chalcid ‘Gall Clade’. Six genera are treated in the family, including two new genera, Halleriaphagus van Noort and Burks, gen. nov ., and Ouma Mitroiu...

Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that include as many as 500 000 estimated species. Capturing phylogenetic signal from such a massive radiation can be daunting. Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution. We combined 1007 exons obtained with Anchored Hybrid Enrichme...

Most of arthropod biodiversity is unknown to science. Consequently, it has been unclear whether insect communities around the world are dominated by the same or different taxa. This question can be answered through standardized sampling of biodiversity followed by estimation of species diversity and community composition with DNA barcodes. Here thi...

The family Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) is reviewed with the goal of providing nomenclatural changes and morphological diagnoses in preparation for a new molecular phylogeny and a book on world fauna that will contain keys to identification. Most subfamilies and some tribes of Pteromalidae are elevated to family level or transferred els...

Capturing phylogenetic signal from a massive radiation can be daunting. The superfamily Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution. Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that until now included 27 families, 87 subfamilies and as many as 500,000 estimated species. We comb...

Spalangiopelta is a small genus of chalcid wasps that has received little attention despite the widespread distribution of its extant species. The fossil record of the genus is restricted to a single species from Miocene Dominican amber. We describe two new fossil species, Spalangiopelta darlingi sp. n. and Spalangiopelta semialba sp. n. from Balti...

The genus Zagrammosoma Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is revised. Twenty-six species are recognized, of which 23 have been molecularly verified in a phylogenetic context using 28S, ITS2, and COI. Zagrammosoma is recovered as monophyletic, worldwide in distribution, and morphologically distinct from Cirrospilus Westwood. Zagrammosoma interlineatu...

A key is provided to 16 recognized species groups, plus several species not assigned to species group, of Orasema Cameron (Eucharitidae), a widespread New World genus of myrmicine ant (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) parasitoids ranging from northern Argentina to southern Canada. Eight of the species groups are revised, of which five are newly established;...

Eucharissa (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae) is an enigmatic genus within Chalcidoidea. Adults have at least 16 antennal segments, which is shared only by the closely related genus, Saccharissa, with some species of Eucharissa having as many as 22 antennal segments. At most, other Chalcidoidea have up to 14 segments. Phylogenetic analyses place Euchariss...

A new fossil species of Eulophidae, Kressleinius celans , gen. et sp. nov. , is described from Eocene Baltic amber. It does not place into any extant genera within Eulophidae due to a lack of distinctive synapomorphies. The results of a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis placed K. celans in Tetrastichinae because of features shared with several...

Based on morphological and molecular evidence, the European fairyfly Herulia sundholmi Hedqvist syn. n. (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) is removed from previous synonymy with the Nearctic Macrocamptoptera metotarsa (Girault), and synony-mised with the Palaearctic M. grangeri Soyka, which is newly recorded from Georgia, Slovakia and Spain. Macrocamptoptera...

Chartocerus azizaesp. nov. is described as the first known fossil from the family Signiphoridae, based on two inclusions in the same piece of Eocene Baltic amber (36.7–48.5 million years ago). Implications of the morphology of C. azizae are discussed, indicating that it should be placed in Chartocerus .

Eulophidae is a hyper-diverse family of chalcidoid wasps with 324 genera, about 5300 described species and probably thousands of others to be described. Until now, the absence of unequivocal morphological apomorphies and the low resolution provided by the handful of Sanger sequenced genes have hampered the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationshi...

New Baltic amber species of Pteromalidae sensu lato are described, from two different subfamilies, Asaphesinae n. n. and Eunotinae. Asaphesinae is provided as a replacement name for Asaphinae Ashmead 1904, which is a junior homonym of the trilobite family Asaphidae Burmeister 1843. Coriotela lasallei gen. n., sp. n.. and Butiokeras costae gen. n.,...

Six new species of Orasema are described. Four species are placed into a newly recognised lasallei species group: Orasema lasallei sp. nov. (Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua), O. janzeni sp. nov. (Costa Rica), O. peckorum sp. nov. (Brazil) and O. vasquezi sp. nov. (Colombia). One species is placed in the wayqecha group, Orasema masneri sp. n...

The larval morphology and life history of the weevil parasitoid Eutrichosoma mirabile Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae) are described, and the phylogenetic placement of the subfamily Eutrichosomatinae within Chalcidoidea is determined using larval morphological characters. A description of Eutrichosoma burskisp. nov. and key to the...

Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) are a megadiverse superfamily of wasps with astounding variation in both morphology and biology. Most species are parasitoids and important natural enemies of insects in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we present a transcriptome‐based phylogeny of Chalcidoidea; we found that poorly resolved relationships could only...

The Neotropical ‘Kapala Clade’ is a group of 13 described genera of ant parasitoids that includes some of the most morphologically bizarre members in the family Eucharitidae (Chalcidoidea). Across the Kapala Clade, various conspicuous morphological modifications – notably the long mesoscutellar spines – have led to the description of numerous gener...

Chrysolampine wasps belong to a unique lineage of Chalcidoidea characterized by mobile first instar larvae and known as the planidial clade. The fossil history of this biologically highly derived group of parasitoids is still little known due to the scarcity of preserved fossils. Here, we report the discovery of four specimens of Chrysolampinae fro...

The Holarctic species Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is an important parasitoid of lepidopteran, dipteran, coleopteran, and hymenopteran leaf miners. One of the defining characteristics of the species has been its presumed extensive color variation, with individuals ranging from almost completely dark metallic green or...

The subfamily Philomidinae is an odd group of Chalcidoidea currently placed in Perilampidae, although their bizarre morphology has suggested placement in a variety of other chalcidoid families. The genera of Philomidinae are reviewed, and a phylogenetic hypothesis proposed using an analysis of 22 morphological characters. Based on these results, a...

When postulating evolutionary hypotheses for diverse groups of taxa using molecular data, there is a tradeoff between sampling large numbers of taxa with a few Sanger‐sequenced genes or sampling fewer taxa with hundreds to thousands of next‐generation‐sequenced genes. High taxon sampling enables the testing of evolutionary hypotheses that are sensi...

Parasitic wasps are among the most species‐rich groups on Earth. A major cause of this diversity may be local adaptation to host species. However, little is known about variation in host specificity among populations within parasitoid species. Not only is such knowledge important for understanding host‐driven speciation, but because parasitoids oft...

Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera) are specialized ant (Formicidae) parasitoids. As we begin to develop a better understanding of their phylogenetic relationships, it is critical to establish baselines for morphological and biological data. A morphological review and the first report of life history data for Psilocharis afra Heraty is provided based on new...

Two new genera and species of Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are described: the extant Exolabrum vannoorti n. gen., n. sp., from West Coast Fossil Park in South Africa, and Versolabrum coriaceum n. gen., n. sp. from Eocene Baltic amber. These are described in the previously monogeneric subfamily Herbertiinae based on the features of the l...

Chalcid wasps are one of the most diverse lineages of Hymenoptera also highly disparate in terms of morphologies and biologies. The evolutionary relationships among Chalcidoidea have remained virtually untested. No multilocus molecular phylogeny has been deployed heretofore towards assessing the basal tree topology with appropriate sampling. Here w...

Twenty-nine species are recognized in the Orasema stramineipes species group, including 22 new species in what is now the most diverse species group of the New World ant-parasitoid genus Orasema Cameron. Orasema aenea Gahan syn. n. is synonymized with O. freychei (Gemignani), the holotype of which has been rediscovered. Orasema smithi Howard syn. n...

Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are the only family in which all members are specialized parasitoids of ant brood, with species of Orasema Cameron (Oraseminae) parasitizing several genera of Myrmicinae, including Solenopsis Westwood and Pheidole Westwood (Formicidae). In 1988, a new species of Orasema was discovered in southern Texas attac...

A phylogeny of the Torymidae (Chalcidoidea) is estimated using 4734 nucleotides from five genes. Twelve outgroups and 235 ingroup taxa are used, representing about 70% of the recognized genera. Our analyses do not recover Torymidae as monophyletic and we recognize instead two families: Megastigmidae (stat. rev.) and Torymidae s.s. (stat. rev.). Wit...

An understanding of the species richness of parasitoids, where they are most diverse, and how they interact is necessary for implementing effective insect pest management. Parasitoids are distributed among seven different orders of Holometabola (Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Neuroptera, Strepsiptera, Trichoptera, and Hymenoptera), with by far t...

Twelve genera of Oraseminae (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae) are recognized in the Old World. The genus Orasema Cameron is now considered as found only in the New World, and the Old World species, previously treated as species groups, are now treated as distinct genera. Eight new genera are proposed: Australosema gen. n., Cymosema gen. n., Hayatosema ge...

Hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps, ants, and bees) are one of four mega-diverse insect orders, comprising more than 153,000 described and possibly up to one million undescribed extant species. As parasitoids, predators, and pollinators, Hymenoptera play a fundamental role in virtually all terrestrial ecosystems and are of substantial economic importance...

Toxic defensive secretions produced by millipedes in the orders Julida, Spirobolida, Spirostreptida, and Polydesmida are highly repellent to most vertebrate and invertebrate natural enemies, but a few insects have evolved mechanisms to overcome these defenses. We demonstrate that highly specialized parasitic phorid flies in the species-rich genus M...

Myriophora is the most species-rich group of parasitoids that attack toxic, chemically defended millipedes in the superorder Juliformia and order Polydesmida—a resource that few insect predators and parasitoids are able to exploit. Worldwide, there are an estimated 200 species of Myriophora, with the majority of the diversity centred in the Neotrop...

Diuraphis noxia, the Russian wheat aphid, has become a major pest of wheat and barley since first being detected in the western USA in 1986. However, it is rarely a pest in Eurasia, its area of origin, and research has shown that natural enemies can limit its abundance there. Among the most important of natural enemies of D. noxia in Eurasia are pa...

Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are nectar-secreting glands found on plants independent of their flowers. EFNs are diverse in form, present on a wide variety of plants, and their secretions are known to recruit ants. However, much less information has been published on insects with known EFN associations other than ants. Two distinct species groups of...

Levels of armored scales (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) on Mexican Hass avocados imported into California over May 2008–June 2009 were monitored on 135 trucks entering the state via the Blythe border station, the entry point receiving the highest volume of fruit. Levels of live sessile scales were 3.9-fold higher than indicated in a previous survey (Sept...

Within the ant-parasitic wasp family Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera), the Kapala clade is a monophyletic group attacking Ectatomminae and Ponerinae. Members often express extreme phenotypic features, especially in the morphology of the paired frenal spines. Although the means of attack and developmental history of the eucharitid wasps within the ant nes...

Aim An ant parasitoid wasp genus (Eucharitidae: Kapala) common in the New World exhibits the intriguing pattern of having one species distributed widely across tropical Africa and Madagascar. The unusual distribution prompted an investigation of the age, origins and diversification of the Afrotropical Kapala species. We evaluate a previous hypothes...

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http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003132031500343X Manually collecting, identifying, archiving and retrieving specimen images is an expensive and time-consuming work for entomologists. There is a clear need to introduce fast systems integrated with modern image processing and analysis algorithms to accelerate the process. In this p...

Different immature stages and adults of the new species Schizaspidia diacammae (Chalcidoidea: Eucharitidae) were found inside cocoons of Diacamma scalpratum (Formicidae: Ponerinae). Wasp larvae were feeding on ant pupae, while other host cocoons yielded five wasp pupae and both male and female adults. Parasitized cocoons are cut in a distinct manne...

Because of problems of rarity, sampling bias, and general lack of informative characters, immature stages of parasitic Hymenoptera are seldom used to resolve phylogenetic relationships. However, the ant-parasitic Eucharitidae are an exception. The adults and immature stages of Schizaspidia diacammae n. sp. (Eucharitidae: Eucharitinae: Eucharitini)...

The Neotropical Orasema festiva species group is revised, retaining O. festiva (Fabricius) and O. delicatula (Walker) as valid species, and describing four new species: O. alvarengai n. sp., O. caesariata n. sp., O. erwini n. sp., and O. reburra n. sp. The festiva-group is characterized by features that are unusual or unique in Orasema, including t...

New species of fossil Aphelinidae and Trichogrammatidae are described from middle Eocene (Lutetian) Baltic amber (41.3–47.8 Ma). A new subfamily, two new genera and three new species of Aphelinidae are described, with comments on their placement: Phtuaria fimbriae gen.n. , sp.n. in Phtuariinae subf.n. , Glaesaphytis interregni gen.n. , sp.n. and Ce...

This checklist is automatically generated using Version 3.0 of the online database CDF Galapagos Species Checklist. For marine species distribution data cited in the CDF Galapagos Checklists refer to the five main bioregions of the archipelago (Far Northern, Northern, Western, South Eastern and the Elithabeth Bay Bioregion). For the terrestrial spe...

Orasema (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae) is a genus of ant-parasitizing wasps with a nearly worldwide distribution. Adults oviposit away from the host in plant tissue and the first-instar larvae must gain access to the host brood. They are specialists on the larvae and pupae of myrmicine ants, with all substantiated North American host records from the...

Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are specialized ant-parasitoid wasps with a worldwide distribution. Little is known about the diversity of Eucharitidae on the island of Madagascar beyond the collection efforts of the California Academy of Sciences in the early 2000’s and a handful of specimens from other collections. Most of the eucharitid...

Eucharitidae parasitize the immature stages of Formicidae and are among the most speciose family/group of hymenopteran parasitoids of eusocial insects. Females lay their eggs inside or on plant tissues, either individually or in masses. They oviposit away from the host, with the active first instar larva (planidium) responsible for getting into the...

The parasitoid wasp species Cales noacki Howard (Aphelinidae) is an important biological control agent against woolly whitefly, Aleurothrixus floccosus (Aleyrodidae), in citrus-growing regions worldwide. We recently discovered two cryptic species of Cales on citrus in California: Cales noacki and Cales rosei Mottern. Examination of historical biolo...

The genus Cales ( H ymenoptera: A phelinidae) includes 13 species worldwide, of which 10 form a highly morphologically uniform species complex with a native range in the N eotropical region. We recognize ten species previously attributed to a single N eotropical species, Cales noacki H oward, which in the strict sense is a species broadly dissemina...

Shifts between endoparasitism and ectoparasitism with development of an individual larval cycle are rare. These shifts will be examined across Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera), but with an emphasis on the an-parasitic Eucharitidae and their sister group, the Perilampidae.

Eucharitidae (Chalcidoidea) contains 54 genera and over 475 described species. Kapala is a commonly-collected genus in the New World. It is part of the ‘Kapala Clade’, which is a monophyletic group of 14 Neotropical genera that is supported in both morphological and molecular analyses. However, the relationships of the genera within the clade are n...

Millipedes in the order Polydesmida and superorder Juliformia produce toxic defensive compounds that deter predators. Despite these defenses, several insect taxa are predators and parasitoids of chemically defended millipedes. Phorid flies in the genus Myriophora are unique in that they have co-opted these compounds as kairomones for host location....

The immature stages and behavior of Pseudometagea schwarzii (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae: Eucharitini) are described, and the presence of an endoparasitic planidium that undergoes growth-feeding in the larva of the host ant (Lasius neoniger Emery) is confirmed. Bayesian inference and parsimony ancestral state reconstruction are used to map...

The species of Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Egypt are reviewed. Three species of Eucharis Westwood are reported, Eucharis (Eucharisca) bytinskisalzi Bouček, E. (Psilogastrellus) cuprea (Blanchard) and E. (Psilogastrellus) punctata Förster. Primary type material of E. bytinskisalzi and E. cuprea is illustrated through macrophotography...

Previous molecular analyses of higher hymenopteran relationships have largely been based on subjectively aligned ribosomal sequences (18S and 28S). Here, we reanalyze the 18S and 28S data (unaligned about 4.4 kb) using an objective and a semi-objective alignment approach, based on MAFFT and BAli-Phy, respectively. Furthermore, we present the first...

Maximum likelihood tree recovered from the analysis of the combined molecular and morphological data (rRNA BAli-Phy aligned). Support values next to the nodes (or after species pairs) are bootstrap supports obtained from 1000 replicates based on both the BAli-Phy and the MAFFT alignments, respectively. Asterisks stand for maximal support. (TIF)

Commented table of primers used in this study. (PDF)

Maximum likelihood tree recovered from the analysis of the combined molecular data (rRNA MAFFT aligned). Support values next to the nodes (or after species pairs) are bootstrap supports obtained from 1000 replicates based on both the MAFFT and the BAli-Phy alignments, respectively. Asterisks stand for maximal support. (TIF)

While ant colonies serve as host to a diverse array of myrmecophiles, few parasitoids are able to exploit this vast resource. A notable exception is the wasp family Eucharitidae, which is the only family of insects known to exclusively parasitize ants. Worldwide, approximately 700 Eucharitidae species attack five subfamilies across the ant phylogen...

Neolirata new genus (Eucharitidae: Eucharitini) is recognized based on males and females, with new descriptions of eggs, planidia and pupae. Redescriptions are provided for N. alta (Walker) and N. daguerrei (Gemignani) (comb. nov. transferred from Lirata) and a new description of N. furcula sp. nov. is presented. Females of N. alta deposit their eg...

The species of Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Egypt are reviewed. Three species of Eucharis Westwood are reported, Eucharis (Eucharisca) bytinskisalzi Bouček, E. (Psilogastrellus) cuprea (Blanchard) and E. (Psilogastrellus) punctata Förster. Primary type material of E. bytinskisalzi and E. cuprea is illustrated through macrophotography...

While ant colonies serve as host to a diverse array of myrmecophiles, very few parasitoids have been able to exploit this vast resource. A notable exception is the wasp family Eucharitidae, which are the only insects known to exclusively parasitize ants, including some pest ant species. Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera) are found worldwide, with all 700 (...

A preliminary phylogeny of the millipede-parasitoid genus Myriophora was reconstructed by parsimony analysis using 20 morphological characters from 49 taxa (44 ingroup), representing over half of the putative New World species. Myriophora was not recovered as a monophyletic genus with respect to the closely related, army-ant associated genus Acanth...

The genera of Aphelininae (Aphelinidae) are reviewed on a worldwide basis. Identification keys and a phylogenetic hypothesis are presented for 16 genera, of which four are new (Mashimaro n.g., Neophytis n.g., Punkaphytis n.g., Saengella n.g.) and Paraphytis is resurrected. Newly described species are Mashimaro hawksi n.sp., Mashimaro lasallei n.sp....

Bean thrips, Caliothrips fasciatus, is native to western North America. Once considered a pest of several crops in its native area, its pest status has waned over recent decades. However, due to its habit of aggregating in the navel of navel oranges, bean thrips remains economically important because some countries importing oranges from California...

Citation: Carey B, Visscher K, Heraty J (2012) Nectary use for gaining access to an ant host by the parasitoid Orasema simulatrix (Hymenoptera, Eucharitidae). Abstract Eucharitidae is the only family of insects known to specialize as parasitoids of ant brood. Eggs are laid away from the host onto or in plant tissue, and the minute first-instars (pl...

Descriptions of the adults of the two species of Dicoelothorax Ashmead, Dicoelothorax parviceps and Dicoelothorax platycerus, and the eggs, planidia and pupae of Dicoelothorax platycerus Ashmead are provided. Females of Dicoelothorax platycerus deposit their eggs on the underside of leaves of Pseudabutilon virgatum (Cav.) Fryxell (Malvaceae). The h...

Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) is extremely diverse with an estimated 500 000 species. We present the first phylogenetic analysis of the superfamily based on both morphological and molecular data. A web-based, systematics workbench mx was used to score 945 character states illustrated by 648 figures for 233 morphological characters for a total of 66 64...

AbstractA new combined molecular and morphological phylogeny of the Eulophidae is presented with special reference to the subfamily Entedoninae. We examined 28S D2–D5 and CO1 gene regions with parsimony and partitioned Bayesian analyses, and examined the impact of a small set of historically recognized morphological characters on combined analyses....

A new combined molecular and morphological phylogeny of the Eulophidae is presented with special reference to the subfamily Entedoninae. We examined 28S D2–D5 and CO1 gene regions with parsimony and partitioned Bayesian analyses, and examined the impact of a small set of historically recognized morphological characters on combined analyses. Eulophi...

The 53 genera and over 425 described species of Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are exclusively parasitoids of immature Formicidae. Morphology, molecules, and shared life history traits unite the Eucharitidae as a demonstrably monophyletic group with three subfamilies: Gollumiellinae, Oraseminae, and Eucharitinae. We present a fossil-calib...

The genus Coccobius is a group of enigmatic chalcidoid wasps that are mostly parasitoids of armored scales though a few species are known to attack other hemipteran families. The genus currently includes 86 described species. Coccobius species have been used as biological control agents against armored scale pests, most notably the arrowhead scale,...

Chalcidoidea SSME dataset. (NEX)

Specimens sequenced and deposition information for specimen data and genebank accession numbers. (XLS)

Parsimony analysis of SSME dataset using TNT (31,607 steps; r.i. 0.62, strict consensus of >10,000 trees). Bootstrap values plotted to nodes with values greater than 95% represented by dot. (PDF)

Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) are extremely diverse with more than 23,000 species described and over 500,000 species estimated to exist. This is the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the superfamily based on a molecular analysis of 18S and 28S ribosomal gene regions for 19 families, 72 subfamilies, 343 genera and 649 species. The 56 outgrou...

The first comprehensive analysis of higher-level phylogeny of the order Hymenoptera is presented. The analysis includes representatives of all extant superfamilies, scored for 392 morphological characters, and sequence data for four loci (18S, 28S, COI and EF-1α). Including three outgroup taxa, 111 terminals were analyzed. Relationships within symp...

The Hymenoptera--ants, bees and wasps--represent one of the most successful but least understood insect radiations. We present the first comprehensive molecular study spanning the entire order Hymenoptera. It is based on approximately 7 kb of DNA sequence from 4 gene regions (18S, 28S, COI and EF-1α) for 116 species representing all superfamilies a...

The skeletomusculature of the highly derived mesosoma of Kapala (Eucharitidae: Eucharitinae) is described with particular reference to the pronotal – prepectal complex, mesoscutum, and scutellar – axillar complex. Orasema (Eucharitidae: Oraseminae) was used for outgroup comparisons based on polarization of certain character states as plesiomorphic...

Calesinae is a small group of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) that are parasitoids of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). One species, Cales noacki Howard, has been introduced from South America into citrus-growing regions of North America, the Mediterranean and Africa for biological control. The remaining species are found in Australia and New Zealand...

Digital imaging of small parasitic wasps on the order of 1 mm or less is a challenging task. The Chalcid PEET (Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy) is producing high quality, high-magnification images of standard views for Signiphoridae and Aphelinidae and digitizing legacy images of specimens on both color slides and B&W film negative...

Within Hymenoptera, eucharitids comprise the most numerous and diverse group of eusocial insect parasitoids. Fifty-three genera of Eucharitidae are distributed worldwide in nearly every zoogeographical region. Phylogenetic relationships have previously been analyzed within a cladistic framework using morphological character coding, genetic markers,...

Orasema minutissima (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae) has been proposed as a biological control agent of the Little Red Fire Ant, Wasmannia auropunctata. Our results suggest that there is some confusion of species boundaries and biological differences with the closely related species O.costaricensis and O.smithi. We examine differences between species us...

Although the monophyly of some groups of Chalcidoidea is strongly supported by morphological and/or molecular synapomorphies, higher-level relationships within the superfamily remain uncertain. Several families are regarded as either paraphyletic or even polyphyletic. This uncertainty regarding sister-group relationships, combined with hyperdiversi...