Phylogeny and generic concepts of the parasitoid wasp family Aulacidae (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea)

Abstract

The results of the first phylogenetic investigation of members of the Aulacidae of the world are presented. The main objective was to test the monophyly of the currently recognised genera. In total, 79 morphological characters were scored for a substantial sample of the extant aulacid fauna, including 72 species, as well as 12 outgroup taxa belonging to Evaniidae, Gasteruptiidae, Megalyridae, Trigonalidae, Braconidae and Stephanidae. All zoogeographic regions were represented. The dataset was analysed under different conditions (ordered, unordered, equal and implied weighting). The results under different weighting conditions are not fully congruent and many relationships remain unresolved. However, the analyses demonstrate that the current generic classification of the Aulacidae is not a natural one. There is support for a very large, monophyletic clade which includes all Pristaulacus Kieffer spp. + Panaulix Benoit spp. This suggests a wider generic concept for Pristaulacus, which is redefined and rediagnosed here. As a consequence, Panaulix becomes a junior synonym of Pristaulacus (syn. nov.), and the two described species of Panaulix are transferred to Pristaulacus: Pristaulacus rex (Benoit, 1984), comb. nov., and Pristaulacus irenae (Madl, 1990), comb. nov. The genus Aulacus Jurine was consistently paraphyletic and is not valid as currently defined. Furthermore, we failed to retrieve a consistent topology among the different clades of Aulacus. A satisfactory reclassification of Aulacus, however, requires a much more comprehensive taxon sample and/or additional character data.

Two unusual new species of Aulacus Jurine (Hymenoptera, Aulacidae) from South America

“…The two species described below belong to Aulacus as currently defined (e.g., Smith 2001Smith , 2008Turrisi et al 2009). They are distinguished from other Aulacus species in the first couplet in the key below.…”

“…The exact relationship with other species of Aulacus is unknown. Turrisi et al (2009) considered the genus paraphyletic, and the phylogenetic classification remains unresolved. A study of world Aulacus on a much more comprehensive basis is needed to determine relationships of the two species described here.…”

Review of Aulacidae from Greece and Cyprus with new records

“…Both genera are represented in all zoogeographic regions, except Antarctica, while Aulacus is not known from the Afrotropics (Kieffer 1912, Hedicke 1939, Smith 2001, Turrisi et al 2009). In the Palaearctics, 32 species have been recorded so far, 7 Aulacus and 25 Pristaulacus (Turrisi 2007, 2011, Turrisi et al 2009, Turrisi and Konishi 2011, Turrisi and Watanabe 2011, of which five are presently recorded from Greece and adjacent islands, most of them having been recorded from this country only in recent time (Turrisi 2007).…”

“…The Evaniomorph family Aulacidae comprises 245 extant species belonging to two genera (Turrisi et al 2009), Aulacus Jurine, 1807, with 77 species, and Pristaulacus Kieffer, 1900(including the former Panaulix Benoit, 1984, with 168 species. Both genera are represented in all zoogeographic regions, except Antarctica, while Aulacus is not known from the Afrotropics (Kieffer 1912, Hedicke 1939, Smith 2001, Turrisi et al 2009).…”

Taxonomic and faunistic study of Aulacidae (Hymenoptera, Evanioidea) from Iran, with illustrated key to species

“…The family Aulacidae is small distinct family in the superfamily Evanioidea. This family includes 262 extant species grouped within only two genera, Aulacus Jurine, 1807 with 83 species and Pristaulacus Kieffer, 1900 (including the former Panaulix Benoit, 1984), with 177 species , Turrisi et al 2009, Chen et al 2016, Turrisi and Nobile 2016Turrisi 2017). According to the online Taxapad (Yu et al 2012) this family contains four subfamilies and 11 genera, including fossils.…”