Hymenoptera is an extraordinarily diverse lineage, both in terms of species numbers and morphotypes, that includes sawflies, bees, wasps, and ants. These organisms serve critical roles as herbivores, predators, parasitoids, and pollinators, with several species functioning as models for agricultural, behavioral, and genomic research. The collective anatomical knowledge of these insects, however, has been described or referred to by labels derived from numerous, partially overlapping lexicons. The resulting corpus of information—millions of statements about hymenopteran phenotypes—remains inaccessible due to language discrepancies. The Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology (HAO) was developed to surmount this challenge and to aid future communication related to hymenopteran anatomy. The HAO was built using newly developed interfaces within mx, a Web-based, open source software package, that enables collaborators to simultaneously contribute to an ontology. Over twenty people contributed to the development of this ontology by adding terms, genus differentia, references, images, relationships, and annotations. The database interface returns an Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) formatted version of the ontology and includes mechanisms for extracting candidate data and for publishing a searchable ontology to the Web. The application tools are subject-agnostic and may be used by others initiating and developing ontologies. The present core HAO data constitute 2,111 concepts, 6,977 terms (labels for concepts), 3,152 relations, 4,361 sensus (links between terms, concepts, and references) and over 6,000 text and graphical annotations. The HAO is rooted with the Common Anatomy Reference Ontology (CARO), in order to facilitate interoperability with and future alignment to other anatomy ontologies, and is available through the OBO Foundry ontology repository and BioPortal. The HAO provides a foundation through which connections between genomic, evolutionary developmental biology, phylogenetic, taxonomic, and morphological research can be actualized. Inherent mechanisms for feedback and content delivery demonstrate the effectiveness of remote, collaborative ontology development and facilitate future refinement of the HAO.

Imagine if we could compute across phenotype data as easily as genomic data; this article calls for efforts to realize this vision and discusses the potential benefits.

The skeletomusculature of the head and mesosoma of the parasitoid wasp family Scelionidae is reviewed. Representatives of 27 scelionid genera are examined together with 13 non-scelionid taxa for comparison. Terms employed for other groups of Hymenoptera are reviewed, and a consensus terminology is proposed. External characters are redescribed and correlated with corresponding apodemes, muscles and putative exocrine gland openings; their phylogenetic importance is discussed. 229 skeletal structures were termed and defined, from which 84 are newly established or redefined. 67 muscles of the head and mesosoma are examined and homologized with those present in other Hymenoptera taxa. The presence of the cranio-antennal muscle, an extrinsic antennal muscle originating from the head capsule, is unique for Scelionidae. The dorsally bent epistomal sulcus and the corresponding internal epistomal ridge extend to the anterior margin of the oral foramen, the clypeo-pleurostomal line is absent and the tentorium is fused with the pleurostomal condyle. The frontal ledge is present in those scelionid genera having the anterior mandibular articulation located on the lateral margin of the oral foramen. The ledge corresponds to the site of origin of the mandibular abductor muscle, which is displaced from the genal area to the top of the frons. The protractor of the pharyngeal plate originates dorsally of the antennal foramen in Scelionidae. All scelionid genera have a postgenal bridge developed between the oral and occipital foramina. The propleural arm is reduced, muscles originating from the propleural arm in other Hymenoptera are situated on other propectal structures in Scelionidae. The profurcal bridge is absent. The first flexor of the fore wing originates from the posteroventral part of the pronotum in Scelionidae and Vanhorniidae, whereas the muscle originatesfrom the mesopleuron in all other Hymenoptera. The netrion apodeme anteriorly limits the site of origin of the first flexor of the fore wing. Three types of netrion are described on the basis of the relative position of the netrion apodeme and the posterior pronotal inflection. The occlusor muscle apodeme is absent in basal Scelionidae, the fan-shaped muscle originates from the pronotum. In Nixonia the muscle originates posterior to the netrion apodeme. The skaphion apodeme crosses the site of origin of the longitudinal flight muscle. The lateral and dorsal axillar surfaces and the axillar carina are defined and described for the first time in Platygastroidea. The retractor of the mesoscutum is reported in Scelionidae and the variability of the muscle and corresponding skeletal structures within the family is described. The term sternaulus is redefined on the basis of the site of origin of the mesopleuro-mesobasalare muscle. The term speculum is adopted from Ichneumonidae and Cynipoidea taxonomy on the basis of the site of origin of the mesopleuro-mesofurcal muscle. The remnants of the mesopleural ridge, sulcus and mesopleural arm and pit and the putative border between the mesepisternum and mesepimeron is discussed. The mesopleural depressor of the mesotrochanter sensu Gibson 1985 originates from the anterior extension of the mesofurca and therefore the muscle is redefined and referred to in the present study as the lateral mesofurco-mesotrochanteral muscle. In Nixonia, Sparasion, Idris and Gryon both the lateral and median mesofurco-mesotrochanteral muscles are present. The lateral mesofurco-mesotrochanteral muscle is present in Platygastridae. The second flexor of the hind wing at least partly originates from the posteriorly delimited area of the mesopectus in Scelionidae similarly to some other Proctotrupomorpha and Chalcidoidea. The serial homology of this area and the netrion is discussed. The possible serial homology of the medially elevated area of the metanotum and mesoscutellum and the usage of the term metascutellum in Apocrita is discussed with the descriptions of correlated internal structures. The anterior metanotal wing process is located on the independent humeral sclerite in Scelionidae, similar to other Apocrita except Cynipoidea. The metanotal depressor of the metatrochanter originates from the humeral sclerite in Scelionidae as well as in some other Proctotrupoidea. The metapleuron is extended secondarily dorsally of the metapleural ridge and corresponding metapleural sulcus in Scelionidae. In Telenominae, Gryonini and Baeini the metafurca is located posteriorly on the metadiscrimenal lamella.

An updated classification of the order Hymenoptera is provided with the current numbers of genera and species described so far specified. The order is composed of 2 suborders, 27 superfamilies, 132 families, 8423 extant genera with an additional 685 extinct genera. Considered one of the most species-rich insects orders a total of 153088 extant species have been described, in addition to 2429 extinct species.

Taxonomic descriptions are unparalleled sources of knowledge of life's phenotypic diversity. As natural language prose, these data sets are largely refractory to computation and integration with other sources of phenotypic data. By formalizing taxonomic descriptions using ontology-based semantic representation, we aim to increase the reusability and computability of taxonomists' primary data. Here, we present a revision of the ensign wasp (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae) fauna of New Caledonia using this new model for species description. Descriptive matrices, specimen data, and taxonomic nomenclature are gathered in a unified Web-based application, mx, then exported as both traditional taxonomic treatments and semantic statements using the OWL Web Ontology Language. Character:character-state combinations are then annotated following the entity–quality phenotype model, originally developed to represent mutant model organism phenotype data; concepts of anatomy are drawn from the Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology and linked to phenotype descriptors from the Phenotypic Quality Ontology. The resulting set of semantic statements is provided in Resource Description Framework format. Applying the model to real data, that is, specimens, taxonomic names, diagnoses, descriptions, and redescriptions, provides us with a foundation to discuss limitations and potential benefits such as automated data integration and reasoner-driven queries. Four species of ensign wasp are now known to occur in New Caledonia: Szepligetella levipetiolata, Szepligetella deercreeki Deans and Mikó sp. nov., Szepligetella irwini Deans and Mikó sp. nov., and the nearly cosmopolitan Evania appendigaster. A fifth species, Szepligetella sericea, including Szepligetella impressa, syn. nov., has not yet been collected in New Caledonia but can be found on islands throughout the Pacific and so is included in the diagnostic key. [Biodiversity informatics; Evaniidae; New Caledonia; new species; ontology; semantic phenotypes; semantic species description; taxonomy.]

The order Hymenoptera (wasps, ants, sawflies, and bees) represents one of the most diverse animal lineages, but whether specific key innovations have contributed to its diversification is still unknown. We assembled the largest time-calibrated phylogeny of Hymenoptera to date and investigated the origin and possible correlation of particular morphological and behavioral innovations with diversification in the order: the wasp waist of Apocrita; the stinger of Aculeata; parasitoidism, a specialized form of carnivory; and secondary phytophagy, a reversal to plant-feeding. Here, we show that parasitoidism has been the dominant strategy since the Late Triassic in Hymenoptera, but was not an immediate driver of diversification. Instead, transitions to secondary phytophagy (from parasitoidism) had a major influence on diversification rate in Hymenoptera. Support for the stinger and the wasp waist as key innovations remains equivocal, but these traits may have laid the anatomical and behavioral foundations for adaptations more directly associated with diversification.

Comparative phylogenetics has been largely lacking a method for reconstructing the evolution of phenotypic entities that consist of ensembles of multiple discrete traits—entire organismal anatomies or organismal body regions. In this study, we provide a new approach named PARAMO (PhylogeneticAncestralReconstruction ofAnatomy byMappingOntologies) that appropriately models anatomical dependencies and uses ontology-informed amalgamation of stochastic maps to reconstruct phenotypic evolution at different levels of anatomical hierarchy including entire phenotypes. This approach provides new opportunities for tracking phenotypic radiations and evolution of organismal anatomies.

One key event in insect evolution was the development of mandibles with two joints, which allowed powerful biting but restricted their movement to a single degree of freedom. These mandibles define the Dicondylia, which constitute over 99% of all extant insect species. It was common doctrine that the dicondylic articulation of chewing mandibles remained unaltered for more than 400 million years. We report highly modified mandibles overcoming the restrictions of a single degree of freedom and hypothesize their major role in insect diversification. These mandibles are defining features of parasitoid chalcid wasps, one of the most species-rich lineages of insects. The shift from powerful chewing to precise cutting likely facilitated adaptations to parasitize hosts hidden in hard substrates, which pose challenges to the emerging wasps. We reveal a crucial step in insect evolution and highlight the importance of comprehensive studies even of putatively well-known systems.