Data from: Molecular phylogeny of the diverse parasitoid wasp genus Ophion Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ophioninae)

Ophion Fabricius is a diverse genus of nocturnal ichneumonid wasps
(Insecta: Hymenoptera) that is particularly species-rich in temperate
areas, yet has received little taxonomic attention in the Holarctic
region, where most species occur. While there have been some attempts to
divide Ophion into monophyletic species groups, the vast majority of
species have been lumped into a single, paraphyletic group, the O. luteus
species group, which is defined only by the lack of characters specific to
the other groups. The challenging morphology of this large catch-all group
has limited attempts to subdivide it, and no phylogenetic hypothesis has
been proposed for the genus as a whole. In this study, we use DNA sequence
data [28S ribosomal RNA (28S), cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) and internal
transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2)] to present the first molecular phylogeny of
Ophion. We also describe the secondary structure of ITS2 for the first
time in Ichneumonidae, and explore its implications for phylogeny
estimation. We define 13 species groups, nine of which were previously
considered part of the O. luteus species group s.l. The included species
groups are the O. minutus, O. areolaris, O. scutellaris, O. flavidus, O.
parvulus, O. slossonae, O. nigrovarius, O. pteridis, O. luteus s.s., and
O. obscuratus species groups, along with three groups lacking described
species (Species group 1, New Zealand group, Madagascar group). This study
provides a framework for future studies of this diverse and
morphologically challenging genus.