Jason L. Mottern

A molecular phylogeny of the Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera).

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 outgroups are comprised of Ceraphronoidea and most proctotrupomorph families, including Mymarommatidae. Data alignment and the impact of ambiguous regions are explored using a secondary structure analysis and automated (MAFFT) alignments of the core and pairing regions and regions of ambiguous alignment. Both likelihood and parsimony approaches are used to analyze the data. Overall there is no impact of alignment method, and few but substantial differences between likelihood and parsimony approaches. Monophyly of Chalcidoidea and a sister group relationship between Mymaridae and the remaining Chalcidoidea is strongly supported in all analyses. Either Mymarommatoidea or Diaprioidea are the sister group of Chalcidoidea depending on the analysis. Likelihood analyses place Rotoitidae as the sister group of the remaining Chalcidoidea after Mymaridae, whereas parsimony nests them within Chalcidoidea. Some traditional family groups are supported as monophyletic (Agaonidae, Eucharitidae, Encyrtidae, Eulophidae, Leucospidae, Mymaridae, Ormyridae, Signiphoridae, Tanaostigmatidae and Trichogrammatidae). Several other families are paraphyletic (Perilampidae) or polyphyletic (Aphelinidae, Chalcididae, Eupelmidae, Eurytomidae, Pteromalidae, Tetracampidae and Torymidae). Evolutionary scenarios discussed for Chalcidoidea include the evolution of phytophagy, egg parasitism, sternorrhynchan parasitism, hypermetamorphic development and heteronomy.

Revision of the Cales noacki species complex (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Aphelinidae)

The genus Cales (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) includes 13 species worldwide, of which 10 form a highly morphologically uniform species complex with a native range in the Neotropical region. We recognize ten species previously attributed to a single Neotropical species, Cales noacki Howard, which in the strict sense is a species broadly disseminated to control woolly whitefly. A neotype is designated for C. noacki, and it is redescribed based on specimens molecularly determined to be conspecific with the neotype. Newly described species include: C. bicolor Mottern, n.sp., C. breviclava Mottern, n.sp., C. brevisensillum Mottern n.sp., C. curvigladius Mottern, n.sp., C. longiseta Mottern, n.sp., C. multisensillum Mottern n.sp., C. noyesi Mottern, n.sp., C. parvigladius Mottern, n.sp. and C. rosei Mottern, n.sp. Species are delimited based on a combination of morphological and molecular data (28S‐D2 rDNA and COI). Additional specimens are included in the phylogenetic analyses and although these likely represent several new species, we lack sufficient specimen sampling to describe them at this time. Cales are highly morphologically conserved and character‐poor, resulting in several cryptic species. A molecular phylogeny of the known Neotropical species based on 28S‐D2–5 rDNA and a 390‐bp segment of COI is included, and identification keys to males and females are provided.

First report of the Eucalyptus gall wasp, Ophelimus maskelli (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), an invasive pest on Eucalyptus, from the Western Hemisphere

Ophelimus maskelli (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was found in southern California, USA, on March 17, 2014, in Riverside County, University of California Riverside Campus (UCR), and has been common there since then. It has also been found in other locations in southern California, including San Diego County (San Diego Safari Park on November 1, 2014), and Orange County (Laguna Niguel Regional Park). Specimens collected from UCR were compared with voucher specimens of O. maskelli collected from Lazio, Italy, and were found to be conspecific. This represents the first report of O. maskelli from the Western Hemisphere.

Cales (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea): morphology of an enigmatic taxon with a review of species

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: a classic Gondwanan disjunction. The subfamily consists of a single genus, Cales, which is currently unplaced within Chalcidoidea. Its taxonomic position has historically been unstable, although most often Cales is associated with Aphelinidae. Here, we present a detailed morphological study of the group with an emphasis on Australian species. Although Cales shares many characteristics with Aphelinidae, especially Coccophaginae and Eretmocerus, more studies of character systems across Chalcidoidea are needed to determine which features may be synapomorphic. Consequently, we leave Cales incertae sedis within Chalcidoidea. We also describe a new species from New Zealand, Cales berryisp.n., reared from the whitefly Asterochiton pittospori on lemonwood, Pittosporum eugenioides, and we present a key and review the four known species of Cales.

Development of a Strategy for Selective Collection of a Parasitoid Attacking One Member of a Large Herbivore Guild

Abstract Selectively collecting a single natural enemy species that parasitizes one member of a guild of herbivores that attack the same host plants can be a challenging problem during development of biological control programs. We present here a successful strategy for the collection of a strain of the egg parasitoid Avetianella longoi Siscaro (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), that parasitizes eggs of the longhorned borer Phoracantha recurva Newman (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). This cerambycid is one member of a large guild of woodborers that simultaneously infest dying and fallen Eucalyptus in Australia, and it has become a major pest of Eucalyptus in many areas of the world where Eucalyptus has been introduced. Adult P. recurva of both sexes were caged on freshly cut Eucalyptus logs, and the resulting egg masses were marked and then left exposed to natural parasitization in the field. Parasitized egg masses were then harvested and held in the laboratory until adult parasitoids emerged. Parasitoids were identified as A. longoi by morphological comparisons with reference specimens, and with molecular markers. This strain of A. longoi readily accepted and had high survival rates in eggs of P. recurva. In contrast, the strain of A. longoi that has been used for biological control of P. semipunctata in California since the 1990s strongly prefers eggs of eucalyptus longhorned borer, Phoracantha semipunctata (F.) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), and has relatively low rates of survival to adulthood in eggs of P. recurva. The causes of these behavioral and physiological differences between the two strains are not yet known.

First record of Closterocerus chamaeleon, parasitoid of the Eucalyptus Gall Wasp Ophelimus maskelli (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Eulophidae), in the New World.

Abstract The uniparental parasitoid Closterocerus chamaeleon (Girault) is discovered to be fortuitously present on a population of the invasive Eucalyptus Gall Wasp Ophelimus maskelli (Ashmead) in Riverside, California. This is the first report from the New World of Closterocerus chamaeleon, which has proven to be a highly effective natural enemy of Ophelimus maskelli in the Mediterranean Basin. The taxonomy and identification of Closterocerus chamaeleon is discussed.

Revision of the Orasema festiva species group (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eucharitidae).

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 the presence of 8-11 labral digits, a smooth face, and a lateral petiolar carina. The egg of O. caesariata and the first-instar larva of O. delicatula are newly described and found to be similar to other species of Orasema.

A New Species of Schizaspidia, with Discussion of the Phylogenetic Utility of Immature Stages for Assessing Relationships among Eucharitid Parasitoids of Ants

ABSTRACT 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) are described from collections of cocooned pupae of its ant host, Diacamma scalpratum (Smith) (Formicidae: Ponerinae: Ponerini), in Thailand. Additional collections of planidia and pupae of Schizaspidia nasua (Walker) from Odontomachus rixosus (Smith) (Ponerini) and related Eucharitini suggest a high degree of conservatism in larval morphology across a monophyletic group of ant parasitoids that attack Ponerinae, Ectatomminae, and Myrmeciinae (PEM Clade). Pupae are especially informative, having peculiar bladder-like processes projecting from the ocelli, dorsal mesoscutellum, and laterally from the abdominal tergites. There are also a set of unusual sclerotized bars found laterally on the basal metasomal tergite. Such processes are unknown elsewhere in Hymenoptera. These same pupae offer further insights into the development of the scutellar spines. Based on a molecular analysis of relationships within the PEM Clade, we propose that scutellar spines have evolved multiple times within the group and across Eucharitidae.

Complex diversity in a mainly tropical group of ant parasitoids: Revision of the Orasema stramineipes species group (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eucharitidae)

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. is synonymized with Orasema minutissima Howard. Orasema violacea Gemignani syn. n. and its replacement name Orasema gemignanii De Santis syn. n. are synonymized with O. worcesteri (Girault). Twenty-two species are described as new: O. arimbome Dominguez, Heraty Burks n. sp., O. carchi Heraty, Burks Dominguez n. sp., and the following 20 species by Burks, Heraty Dominguez: O. chunpi n. sp., O. cozamalotl n. sp., O. evansi n. sp., O. hyarimai n. sp., O. kaspi n. sp., O. kulli n. sp., O. llanthu n. sp., O. llika n. sp., O. mati n. sp., O. nyamo n. sp., O. pirca n. sp., O. pisi n. sp., O. qillu n. sp., O. qincha n. sp., O. rikra n. sp., O. taku n. sp., O. tapi n. sp., O. torrensi n. sp., O. woolleyi n. sp., and O. yaax n. sp. The stramineipes-group has much greater diversity in tropical America than outside the tropics, and is much more diverse than its sister-group, the susanae-group, which is mainly present in temperate regions of Argentina. A hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships is proposed based on an analysis of 28S-D2 rDNA and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) for 14 stramineipes-group species. Species concepts were established using both morphological and molecular data. Most species in the stramineipes-group have a tropical distribution, with only a few species in temperate regions. Ant hosts for the group include Pheidole Westwood, Wasmannia Forel, and possibly Solenopsis Westwood (Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Orasema minutissima is a common parasitoid of Wasmannia auropunctata Roger in the Caribbean and has the potential to be a biological control agent in other areas of the world. Two distinct size morphs are recognized for O. minutissima, which are correlated with attacking either Wasmannia (small morph) or different castes of Pheidole (medium to large size morphs). Some species of Orasema have been regarded as pests due to scarring or secondary infections of leaves or fruit of banana, yerba mate or blueberry, but outbreaks are rare and the threat is usually temporary.

Figures 153–154 In Complex Diversity In A Mainly Tropical Group Of Ant Parasitoids: Revision Of The Orasema Stramineipes Species Group (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eucharitidae)

FIGURES 215–220. Orasema taku. Holotype ♀: 215. Habitus. 216. Head. 217. Antenna, with F2 plus pedicel, and F6–F7 inset.218.Mesosoma, dorsal view. 219.Axillula. 220.Stigma and postmarginal vein.