Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory
2018 Annual Report
Objectives
The long-term goal of this project is to study the systematics and natural history of parasitoid and phytophagous wasps to facilitate their identification, understand and predict their impact on agricultural commodities and products, and disseminate biosystematic information on them to an international clientele. Most species of Hymenoptera are beneficial natural enemies or pollinators, but some are plant pests or bio-control antagonists. This project will focus on chalcidoid, ichneumonoid, cynipoid, and platygastroid wasps, which are taxa of high priority to agriculture and for which the project investigators have expertise. Those groups are important to agriculture because they are useful for bio-control of pest insects and plants and also include species that cause damage to agricultural commodities and products or disrupt bio-control. In addition to conducting research on those groups, the investigators will develop expert systems to provide a broad community of customers increased access to information pertinent to beneficial natural enemies and pests. This project also includes an identification service function for regulatory and research organizations, as well as a curatorial service function for building and maintaining portions of the National Insect Collection (NIC) for use in specimen diagnostics and research. We will focus on the following objectives over the next five years:
Objective 1: Generate revised classifications, phylogenies, species concepts, natural history data and identification tools for wasps in the Cynipoidea, Chalcidoidea, Ichneumonoidea, and Platygastroidea lineages (the latter including Trissolcus wasps, which are important natural enemies of invasive stink bugs).
Objective 2: Compile, organize, and post on the web, searchable electronic databases of hymenopteran families in the U.S. National Insect and Mite Collection, tools, and images of parasitic and plant-feeding Hymenoptera. (non-hypothesis driven)
Objective 3: Provide accurate and efficient identifications of Hymenoptera for APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine and other federal and state regulatory agencies, ARS researchers, and stakeholders across the United States. (non-hypothesis driven)
Approach
Morphological and molecular characters (DNA sequences) will be generated to test species concepts and hypotheses of relationship among agriculturally important flies and parasitoid wasps that attack them. These data will be used to develop new diagnostic tools (descriptions, illustrations, keys). Databases containing scientific names, distributions, taxonomic literature, and host plant and specimen data pertaining to fruit flies will be expanded and disseminated to the user community. These and other taxonomic tools will be made accessible to the public via publications, the internet, and other electronic media. Timely and accurate identifications of flies will be provided, including those intercepted at ports-of-entry by APHIS-PPQ or submitted by a wide range of scientists and regulatory agencies, and portions of the National Collection in the National Museum of Natural History, a vital tool for research and identification, will be maintained and expanded.
Progress Report
Progress was made on a joint project with other scientists in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and France that has resulted in the first phylogenomic analysis of Hymenoptera relationships. This big data project includes over 1,000 species of Hymenoptera, and 210,000 base pairs of data, requiring super computers to analyze. The resulting trees are the most accurate in Hymenoptera research, providing a predictive power to understanding beneficial insects and their control of pests, as well as pestiferous species that threaten agriculture.
Progress was made on the identification and distribution of parasitoid species that attack pest insects around the globe: spotted-wing Drosophila throughout North America, Mexico, southeast Asia, and Western Europe; winter moth, an exotic invasive forest pest in North America; new species and uncovering new plant-aphid-parasitic wasp associations in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, particularly in semi-natural areas near agroecosystems; and new species of parasitoids that attack economically important scale species. All research for these projects included molecular and morphological data.
Progress was made on determining parasitic wasp diversity in eastern deciduous forest and comparing parasitic wasp diversity in different forest strata, including the discovery of new species. Additional progress was made documenting parasitoid species from the Old World tropical and temperate zones.
Progress was made researching the parasitoid community of prairie-dominant plants, including some considered for bio-fuel, resulting in the first records of some new hosts, as well as clearly diagnosed species for future research. The field season of 2018 will see this research expand dramatically with new cooperators and field sites/locations.
In addition to peer-reviewed publications, the scientists on this project presented results on seven occasions at three scientific meetings held both nationally and internationally. This included organizing two symposia, as well as invited presentations in two symposia.
The SEL Hymenoptera Unit completed 322 ‘urgent’ identifications and 478 ‘routine’ identifications for APHIS and other ARS cooperators and stakeholders. At the museum level, the SEL Hymenoptera Unit completed a total of 75 transactions through the NMNH, with nearly 22,000 specimens coming in and going out on exchange; these transactions were with a total of 17 countries worldwide, as well as numerous institutions in the U.S. An estimated 15,000 images were captured for three superfamilies of wasps, and these images are publically available on the Internet; a further 1,500 species names were checked and verified in the National Insect Collection.
Accomplishments
1. Researching taxonomic and bionomic data on wasps helps protect U.S. agricultural interests. Parasitic wasps attack pest insects that cause billions of dollars of damage to crops and natural resources annually. They also attack beneficial natural enemies and are pests when they disrupt biocontrol. ARS researchers stationed at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., focused on some 200 various species of parasitic wasps associated with aphids that attack cereals; stink bugs that eat major food crops in the U.S. and infest homes; flies that eat strawberry and blackberry; caterpillars and beetles that feed on trees and kill them; pestiferous scale insects; fire ants that disturb livestock; and caterpillars released for the biocontrol of invasive pest plants. Along with clarifying identification, the biological attributes and host records are updated for the first time in these groups. Correct identification of biological control agents, as well as an understanding of their biological role in mitigating pestiferous species populations, is essential for making rearing and quarantine decisions in the protection of the U.S. agricultural interests worldwide. Lastly, a joint project with other scientists in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., has resulted in the first phylogenomic analysis of Hymenoptera relationships. This big data project includes over 1,000 species of Hymenoptera, and 210,000 base pairs of data, requiring super computers to analyze. The resulting trees are the most accurate, to date, in Hymenoptera research.
Review Publications
Gates, M.W., Kula, R.R., Buffington, M.L., Javier, T., Patricio, F. 2017. The Gall Associates of Asphondylia poss. swaedicola Kieffer & Jörgensen (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on Suaeda divaricata Moq. (Amaranthaceae) in Semiarid Argentina and Summary of Parasitic Hymenoptera Associated with Suaeda. Neotropical Entomology. 2:1-12.
Morin, H., Gates, M.W., Miko, I. 2017. A new species of Ormocerus Walker (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) from North America and a range expansion for Ormocerus latus Walker. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 119(4):619-628.
Broadley, H.J., Kelly, J., Elkinton, J.S., Kula, R.R., Boettner, G.H. 2018. The impact of native hyperparasitoids on winter moth (Operophtera brumata) biological control. Biological Control. 121:99-108.
Buffington, M.L., Prasifka, J., Gates, M.W., Kula, R.R., Peterson, K. 2017. New host plant and distribution records for Antistrophus laciniatus Gillette, 1891 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), an herb gall wasp on Silphium. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 119(4):660-666.
Buffington, M.L. 2017. The description of Humboldteria, a new genus Neotropical Eucoilinae (Hymenoptera: Figitidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 119(sp1):718-736.
Le, T.N., Graziosi, I., Cira, T.M., Gates, M.W., Wyckhuys, K.G. 2018. Landscape context does not constrain biological control of Phenacoccus manihoti in intensified cassava systems of southern Vietnam. Biocontrol Science and Technology. 121:129-139.
