The phylogeny of the Stenogastrinae wasps is still under discus- sion and their systematic incomplete. In the present work we used geometric morphometrics, a technique based on a rigorous statistical assessment of shape, to compare the forewings of fif- teen species of Stenogastrinae wasps belonging to four different genera to ascertain whether this approach may be used as a reli- able method in the study of the taxonomy of the group. The re- sults show that the wing vein junctions can be diagnostic for both genus and species identification. For the first time in this subfamily, we propose a phylogenetic classification of the spe- cies based on wing morphology that largely agrees with the cladistic data available at genus level and reflects the differ- ences among species in terms of nesting material and architec- ture of their nest.
Relevance of wing morphology in distinguishing and classifying genera and species of Stenogastrinae wasps / D. Baracchi; L. Dapporto; S. Turillazzi. - In: CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGY. - ISSN 1383-4517. - ELETTRONICO. - 80:(2011), pp. 191-199.
Relevance of wing morphology in distinguishing and classifying genera and species of Stenogastrinae wasps
BARACCHI, DAVID;DAPPORTO, LEONARDO;TURILLAZZI, STEFANO
2011
Abstract
The phylogeny of the Stenogastrinae wasps is still under discus- sion and their systematic incomplete. In the present work we used geometric morphometrics, a technique based on a rigorous statistical assessment of shape, to compare the forewings of fif- teen species of Stenogastrinae wasps belonging to four different genera to ascertain whether this approach may be used as a reli- able method in the study of the taxonomy of the group. The re- sults show that the wing vein junctions can be diagnostic for both genus and species identification. For the first time in this subfamily, we propose a phylogenetic classification of the spe- cies based on wing morphology that largely agrees with the cladistic data available at genus level and reflects the differ- ences among species in terms of nesting material and architec- ture of their nest.I documenti in FLORE sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.