Identifying dryinidae (hymenoptera) - auchenorrhyncha (hemiptera) host associations using phylogenetics
Millan-Hernandez, Christian Abel
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101022
Description
Title
Identifying dryinidae (hymenoptera) - auchenorrhyncha (hemiptera) host associations using phylogenetics
Author(s)
Millan-Hernandez, Christian Abel
Issue Date
2018-04-20
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Dietrich, Christopher H.
Committee Member(s)
Suarez, Andrew
Berenbaum, May
Department of Study
Entomology
Discipline
Entomology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
pincer wasp
Dryinidae
parasitoid
Auchenorrhyncha
host
phylogenetics
chelae
Abstract
Dryinidae is a family of ectoparasitoid wasps with cosmopolitan distribution that exclusively preys on and parasitizes members of the suborder Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera). Host records of these important biocontrol agents are fragmentary because previous records have been based on tedious laboratory rearing of parasitized individuals requiring environmental control and long waiting periods, usually with limited success. Molecular phylogenetic methods provide an alternative to expand knowledge of dryinid host breadth by DNA sequencing of host attached parasitoid larvae. For this study, 142 late-stage dryinid larvae were removed from parasitized individuals of Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera), mostly from a wet insect collection at the Illinois Natural History Survey representing all major biogeographic regions. The 28S D2-D3 nuclear ribosomal gene region was amplified using PCR and sequenced. Attempts to sequence Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1, Cytochrome B and 18S DNA regions were unsuccessful due to contamination with host DNA. Sequence data were combined with data from a previous phylogenetic study based on adults and a maximum likelihood tree search was performed in the IQ-Tree webserver. The best tree was used to explore the significance of natural history traits including distribution, host taxonomy and habitat, for explaining host association patterns. The number of species represented by larval samples was conservatively estimated by integrating genetic distances with natural history data. Host identification revealed 70 new dryinid-host associations, adding Eurybrachidae as a host planthopper family. The resulting phylogeny provided good resolution at the subfamily level, except in Anteoninae, which was divided in two non-contiguous clades. Host attached larvae formed part of at least four subfamilies, an unidentified lineage inferred to represent Bocchinae based on host associations, Anteoninae, Aphelopinae and Gonatopodinae, the latter having the highest diversity among sampled larvae. Biogeography and host associations at the level of family-group taxa explained some phylogenetic patterns among clades, but habitat was less significant. Overall, this study, corroborates previous studies indicating that dryinids are generalist parasitoids of Auchenorrhyncha, but it also provides evidence supporting cryptic species complexes.
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