Molecular phylogeny and systematics of spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): redefining subfamily boundaries and the origin of the family

Abstract

Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) constitute a monophyletic family supported by numerous morphological and behavioural traits. The subfamilial and tribal classifications, however, have a history of conflicting and confusing designations and nomenclature. Here, we reconstruct a molecular phylogeny of Pompilidae from Bayesian and maximum-likelihood analyses of four nuclear molecular markers (elongation factor-1 α F2 copy, longwavelength rhodopsin, RNA polymerase II, and 28S ribosomal RNA). A Bayesian divergence-time estimation analysis was performed using four calibration points and an ancestral-area reconstruction was performed with a Bayesian binary Markov chain Monte Carlo method. New relationships are recovered, and new subfamilial delimitations are proposed and discussed based on the phylogeny. The origin of Pompilidae was c. 43.3 Mya, probably in the Nearctic region. Most of the extant subfamilies originated from the late Eocene to the Oligocene, and their current distributions are the product of various dispersal events that occurred over the course of ∼40 Mya. This is the first phylogenetic reconstruction of Pompilidae from molecular characters, with broad geographical and taxonomic sampling. The following subfamilies and relationships are recognized: Ctenocerinae + ((Ceropalinae + Notocyphinae) + (Pompilinae + Pepsinae)). We revalidate Notocyphinae, which contains only Notocyphus, and define a new tribe in Pompilinae: Sericopompilini. Priochilini is reinstated. Sericopompilini contains Sericopompilus as the sole representative; Priochilini contains Priochilus and Balboana. Epipompilus and Chirodamus are now classified as Pepsinae.

The geological record and phylogeny of spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): A revision of fossil species and their phylogenetic placement

“…The most recent work described Dominican amber species and excluded a Cretaceous fossil species from the family [ 1 ]. This paleontological study corroborated molecular phylogenetic analyses, showing that the oldest Pompilidae are from the Eocene and not the Cretaceous, as was previously proposed [ 1 , 2 ]…”

A new genus of spider wasps (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) from China

“…The family Pompilidae (spider wasps) is one of the largest families among the aculeate wasps in Hymenoptera distributed worldwide, but mostly in the tropical regions (Pitts et al, 2006). The family numbers around 5000 recent species in 254 genera and five subfamilies in the World, around 1000 species in the Palaearctic (Aguiar et al, 2013;Waichert et al, 2015;.…”

New distribution record of Epipompilus aztecus (Cresson, 1869) (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) in the Brazilian Pantanal

“…Pompilidae is a family of wasps that hunt spiders, which they feed to their larvae (Fernandez and Sharkey, 2006). The family contains about 5,000 species worldwide and in the Neotropical region 5 subfamilies are accepted (Ctenocerinae, Notocyphinae, Ceropalinae, Pompilinae and Pepsinae), with approximately 60 genera and 1000 known species (Fernandez, 2000;Pitts et al, 2005, Waichert et al, 2015. Epipompilus now is included in Pepsinae (Waichert et al, 2015).…”

“…The family contains about 5,000 species worldwide and in the Neotropical region 5 subfamilies are accepted (Ctenocerinae, Notocyphinae, Ceropalinae, Pompilinae and Pepsinae), with approximately 60 genera and 1000 known species (Fernandez, 2000;Pitts et al, 2005, Waichert et al, 2015. Epipompilus now is included in Pepsinae (Waichert et al, 2015). Within Epipompilus Kohl (1884), 52 species are known: 36 in Australia and 16 in America, with 15 described in the Neotropical region (Evans, 1972;Fernandez, 2000;Santos and Noll, 2010).…”