The Magnificent Megaspilidae: Conostigmus spp. (Hymenoptera: Megaspilidae) of the Nearctic Carolyn Trietsch István Mikó Andrew R. Deans The Pennsylvania State University Klopfstein et. al (2013); Vilhelmsen et. al (2010) Morphological Molecular (bootstrap values given) (posterior probabilities given) Ceraphronidae Megaspilidae Lagynodinae Goloboff et. al (2008); Ronquist & Huelsenbeck (2003) Conostigmus Dahlbom 1858 • 169 species worldwide • Little known about: – Hosts: Diptera (Phoridae, Syrphidae) Mecoptera, Hymenoptera, and…? – Ectoparasitoids, but also endoparasitoids? – Behavior? Life history??? Johnson & Musetti (2004) Revision of Nearctic Conostigmus • 32 species in North America (north of Mexico) • Integrated taxonomic approach relying on both traditional and innovative methods Johnson & Musetti (2004) Redescription of C. albovarius Dodd 1915 Trietsch et al. (2015) Revision of Malagasy Species C. clavatus n. sp. Mikó & Trietsch (in press) Mikó et. al (in press) This presentation is not issued for purposes of zoological nomenclature, and is not published within the meaning of the Code. Specimens for Study • Over 800 Conostigmus specimens from 13 museums and collections Sampling in: AZ, CT, MA, NC, NJ, NY, PA, UT Morphological Approach Different species? C. lucidus n. sp. C. lucidus n. sp. Mikó & Trietsch (in press) Mikó & Trietsch (in press) Same Mikó et. al (in press) This presentation is not issued for purposes of zoological nomenclature, and is not published within the meaning of the Code. Same species? C. lucidus n. sp. C. fianarantsoaensis n. sp. Mikó & Trietsch (in press) Mikó & Trietsch (in press) Different Mikó et. al (in press) This presentation is not issued for purposes of zoological nomenclature, and is not published within the meaning of the Code. C. sp. C7C C. abdominalis C. sp. C7A Harpe C. sp. 5 Gonossiculus This presentation is not issued for purposes of zoological nomenclature, and is not published within the meaning of the Code. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) C. sp. C7D C. sp. C16 This presentation is not issued for purposes of zoological nomenclature, and is not published within the meaning of the Code. C. sp. C16 This presentation is not issued for purposes of zoological nomenclature, and is not published within the meaning of the Code. Phenotypic Ontologies • All morphological characters (somatic and male genitalia) represented in OWL Manchester Syntax Phenotype RCN Summit at Biosphere 2 facility near Tuscon, AZ, 26-28 February 2016 Phenotype Ontology Research Coordination Network; NSF-DEB-0956049; http://www.phenotypercn.org/ Photo by Andy Deans (CC BY 2.0). Conostigmus Morphology • 39 species concepts (so far!) – 32 species known in Nearctic – New to science? Molecular Approach • Problems with male genitalia characters: – Matching males and females? – Actually separate species? Molecular Approach • Relying on mitochondrial CO1, nuclear 28S, 16S rRNA, and/or ITS rDNA • Very difficult! – No previous Conostigmus CO1 primers Molecular Approach • Designed CO1 primers for Conostigmus, Dendrocerus, and Ceraphron • Will use molecular data to: – Test the species concepts built using morphology – Match male and females Trichosteresis sp. Mikó et. al (in press) Dorsal C. bipunctatus C. sp. 3 Ventral C. sp. C7A C. sp. C7B This presentation is not issued for purposes of zoological nomenclature, and is not published within the meaning of the Code. Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) Histology • Exploring the felt fields and semitransparent patches using: – Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) – Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) Semitransparent Patch Felt Field Felt Field Semitransparent Patches Future Directions • Continue work on semitransparent patches and felt fields • Finish Nearctic revision of Conostigmus • Investigate higher level phylogeny of Ceraphronoidea • Establish a live colony of megaspilids – Functional morphology of male (and female) genitalia structures – Function of felt fields and semitransparent patches Acknowledgments This talk is available on Figshare at: Thanks to Lubomir Masner, Michael J. Sharkey, Luciana Musetti, Matt Bertone, Shawn Clark, Matt Yoder, Heather Hines, Briana Ezray, Missy Hazen, Emily Sandall, Jonah Ulmer, Kyle Burks, and all the rest! This material is based upon work supported by the U. S. National Science Foundation, under Grant Numbers DBI-1356381 and DEB-1353252. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Natural Language Annotation in Manchester Prose Syntax has_part some (metasoma and Dark red metasoma bearer_of some dark red)) Nearctic Conostigmus: Species Found Outside the Nearctic C. ambiguus (Ashmead) C. nevadensis (Kieffer) C. arientinus (Provancher) C. nigripes (Kieffer) C. bacilliger (Kieffer) C. nigrorufus (Dessart) C. bakeri (Kieffer) C. obscurus (Thomson) C. californicus (Ashmead) C. orcasensis (Brues) C. cadensis (Ashmead) C. ottawensis (Ashmead) C. crawfordi (Mann) C. pergandei (Ashmead) C. dimidiatus (Thomson) C. popenoei (Ashmead) C. erythrothorax (Ashmead) C. pulchellus (Whittaker) C. harringtoni (Ashmead) C. quadratogelis (Dessart and Cooper) C. hyalinipennis (Ashmead) C. rufoniger (Provancher) C. inermis (Kieffer) C. schwarzi (Ashmead) C. integriceps (Kieffer) C. subinermis (Kieffer) C. laeviceps (Ashmead) C. timberlakei (Kamal) C. marylandicus (Ashmead) C. trapezoidus (Kieffer) C. muesebecki (Dessart and Masner) C. triangularis (Thomson) Nearctic Conostigmus: Species Missing Holotypes C. ambiguus (Ashmead) C. nevadensis (Kieffer) C. arientinus (Provancher) C. nigripes (Kieffer) C. bacilliger (Kieffer) C. nigrorufus (Dessart) C. bakeri (Kieffer) C. obscurus (Thomson) C. californicus (Ashmead) C. orcasensis (Brues) C. cadensis (Ashmead) C. ottawensis (Ashmead) C. crawfordi (Mann) C. pergandei (Ashmead) C. dimidiatus (Thomson) C. popenoei (Ashmead) C. erythrothorax (Ashmead) C. pulchellus (Whittaker) C. harringtoni (Ashmead) C. quadratogelis (Dessart and Cooper) C. hyalinipennis (Ashmead) C. rufoniger (Provancher) C. inermis (Kieffer) C. schwarzi (Ashmead) C. integriceps (Kieffer) C. subinermis (Kieffer) C. laeviceps (Ashmead) C. timberlakei (Kamal) C. marylandicus (Ashmead) C. trapezoidus (Kieffer) C. muesebecki (Dessart and Masner) C. triangularis (Thomson) .