Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory
2019 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, and Washington D.C., which has resulted in the first phylogenomic analysis of Hymenoptera relationships, as well as spin off projects on the phylogenomics of Braconidae, Ichneumonidae, Cynipoidea, Platygastroidea, Ceraphronoidea and Chalcidoidea. These big data projects include over 4000 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 spotted-wing Drosophila (SWD) throughout North America, Mexico, southeast Asia, and Western Europe, and a paper is nearing publication. A new genus is being described that is associated with SWD, and an updated species-level phylogeny now circumscribes species of Leptopilina that attack SWD.
Progress was made on a species-level phylogeny of Trissolcus wasps that attack the brown marmorated stink bug. This phylogeny, which is nearing publication, is the first of it’s kind and clarifies patterns of evolution and species limitations within the genus.
Progress was made on the discovery and description of new species from China and Mexico. The new species are in genera with congeners known to attack flies in wheat and mushrooms. Progress was also made in research on wasps parasitic on herbivorous insects in U.S. forests. Morphological and molecular data were used to discover and diagnose wasp species parasitic on winter moth, a serious exotic pest in U.S. forests, and discern the effect of those wasps on winter moth populations. Parasitic wasps were also reared from leaf-mining flies in U.S. forests and morphological features analyzed to discover new plant-herbivore-wasp associations. Additionally, research was conducted to determine the extent that parasitic wasps visit flowers and to what degree particular plant species support parasitic wasp diversity—two factors critical in conservation biocontrol. Research was also conducted to determine natural enemies of a moth used for classical biocontrol of exotic invasive Old World climbing fern; it resulted in discovery of new records of two wasp species attacking the biocontrol agent in Florida.
Progress was made on the discovery, description, and biological characterization of parasitic wasps associated with squash bug in the U.S. and determining the role of nectar resources on level of bug parasitisim. An invasive spider expanding its range and displacing native species in Europe was discovered to be parasitized by a wasp described from India, which is in the native range of the spider. Work examining the effects of competition among hyperparasitoids on primary biological control agents was completed. A genus of wasp that induces galls on oaks was reviewed as these wasps can cause deformities on both commercially available trees, impacting resale, and recently planted trees, decreasing their landscape value and vigor.
Objective 4 was met, which falls under National Program 304; Component 3, Insects and Mites; Subcomponent 3B, Natural Ecosystems; Problem Statement 3B1, Early detection and prevention of both invasive and native insect and mite pests. During the past year, ARS researchers in Beltsville, Maryland (Smithsonian Institution), completed identifications of Hymenoptera, including those intercepted at all ports-of-entry into the U.S., and those submitted to the laboratory by universities and agricultural extension agencies, and entered the data in the Systematic Entomology Laboratory Identification System. Significant numbers of Hymenoptera identifications have been made, which are typically split between ant identifications for ports, and parasitoid identifications for biological control research. In the period from October 1, 2018 to May 22, 2019, 323 submittal lots (2,393 specimens) were identified, including 162 “urgent”, 161 “prompt and “routine” submittals for USDA-USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Plant Protection Quarantine (APHIS-PPQ) of specimens intercepted on perishable commodities at ports of entry. “Urgent” identifications (those requiring same day turn-around of specimens intercepted on perishable commodities at ports of entry) have been processed daily as submitted. Obstacles to achieving this milestone include shortness of staff specialists to perform identifications, diversion of scientific staff to perform technical and IT functions due to loss of former positions, and loss of collaborating specialists who formerly handled regular lots for some groups. These identifications are critical to APHIS-PPQ, regulatory agencies, universities and state extension agencies.
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 at Beltsville, Maryland, focused on some 200 various species of parasitic wasps associated with: stink bugs that eat major food crops in the U.S. and infest homes; flies that eat strawberry, blackberry, and mushrooms; leaf-miners in U.S. forests; invasive spiders in Europe, caterpillars and beetles that feed on trees and kill them; fire ants that disturb livestock; and caterpillars released for the biocontrol of invasive pest plants. Along with clarifying identification, new biological attributes and host records were discovered for wasps important to agriculture and natural resources. 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.
2. Big data initiative to resolve the phylogeny of Hymenoptera using genomic data. This project includes scientists in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Washington D.C., and has resulted in the first phylogenomic analysis of Hymenoptera relationships, as well as more thorough analyses within superfamilies. This project includes over 4000 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, and will be essential for researchers, around the world, for delimiting species, resolving the monophyly of genera, and identify novel sources of evolutionary data.
Review Publications
Lake, E.C., Kula, R.R., Gates, M.W., Smith, M., Minteer, C., Tipping, P.W. 2019. The first pupal parasitoids of Neomusotima conspurcatalis Warren (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), a biological control agent of Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br. (Polypodiales: Lygodiaceae) in Florida. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 121(2):314-319. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.121.2.314.
Li, L., Rasnitsyn, A., Shih, C., Labandeira, C., Buffington, M.L., Ren, D. 2018. Phylogeny of Evanioidea (Hymenoptera, Apocrita), with descriptions of new Mesozoic species from China and Myanmar. Cladistics. 43:810842. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12315.
Lobato-Vila, I., Cibrian-Tovar, D., Barrera-Ruiz, U., Equiha-Martinez, A., Estrada-Venegas, E., Buffington, M.L., Pujade-Villar, J. 2019. Review of the Synergus Hartig species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Synergini) associated with tuberous and other tumor-like galls on oaks from America with the description of three new species from Mexico. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 121(2):193-255.
Giorgini, M., Wang, X., Wang, Y., Chen, F., Zhang, H., Chen, Z., Cascone, P., Formisano, G., Carvalho, G.A., Buffington, M.L., Hoelmer, K.A., Guerrieri, E. 2018. Exploration for native parasitoids of Drosophila suzukii in China reveals a diversity of parasitoid species and narrow host range of the dominant parasitoid. Journal of Pest Science. 92:509-522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-018-01068-3.
Girod, P., Ris, N., Borowiec, N., Zhang, J., Wu, H., Fang, Y., Chen, G., Xiao, C., Kimura, M., Buffington, M.L., Peris-Fillipp, F.R., Aebi, A., Haye, T., Kenis, M. 2018. The parasitoid complex of D. suzukii and other fruit feeding Drosophila species in Asia. Biological Control. 8:11839.
Buffington, M.L., Talamas, E., Hoelmer, K.A. 2018. Team Trissolcus: Integrating taxonomy and biological control to combat the brown marmorated stink bug. American Entomologist. 64:224-232.
Buffington, M.L., Copeland, R., Van Noort, S. 2018. Description of Afroserphus masneri, new species (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupidae) and clarification of the identity of Afroserphus bicornis Masner, 1961. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 120:687-707.
Yao, J., Kula, R.R., Chen, J. 2018. Two new species of Anisocyrta Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae) from China. Zootaxa. 4459(3):575-582.
Lue, C., Borowy, D., Buffington, M.L., Lieps, J. 2018. Geographic and Seasonal Variation in Species Diversity and Community Composition of Frugivorous Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) and their Leptopilina (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) Parasitoids. Environmental Entomology. 47:1096-1106.
