This project will produce a worldwide review of Aphelinus species, a group of minute parasitic wasps. Many new species are known to occur, including cryptic species that differ only slightly in traditional morphological characters. Specimens will be photographed to record coloration and taxonomic characters, DNA will be extracted using non-destructive methods, and next-generation sequencing methods will be used to generate molecular characters. The data will be analyzed to characterize species and to provide an evolutionary framework for classification. Selected crosses will confirm reproductive isolation. An on-line data management system will be used to store and organize collection records, literature, digital images and morphological and molecular data. Following publication of the results, data will be delivered to online sources of global biodiversity information.
Aphelinus species are natural enemies of aphids, and a comprehensive and robust taxonomy will greatly facilitate their use in the biological control of those important pests. Rates of speciation are extremely rapid in Aphelinus, making species difficult to characterize using traditional molecular methods. Next-generation sequencing will provide orders of magnitude more information to infer evolutionarily relationships, and the project is one of the first to apply these methods to insect taxonomy. Two graduate students will be broadly trained in the theory and methods of contemporary systematic biology. Aphelinus species are superb model systems for study of speciation in parasitoids, and the complex, inter-related effects of mate recognition, host-switching, and endosymbionts. This project will provide the essential foundation for these studies.
