An integrated phylogenetic reassessment of the parasitoid superfamily Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupomorpha) results in a revised familial classification

The superfamily Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupomorpha) is a
diverse group of parasitoid wasps that attack nine orders of insects as
well as spiders. They appear to show a clear pattern of host group
specificity among genera. A robust phylogeny is essential to understanding
the monophyly of and relationships among lower level groups and the
pattern of the shifts among host groups. We conducted phylogenetic
analyses of Platygastroidea based on four molecular markers (18S, 28S,
COI, and wingless) combined with 119 morphological characters, and a
phylogenomic analysis of a subset of taxa based on 4,371 single-copy,
protein-coding genes. The four-gene and morphological analyses robustly
recovered some well-established groups, e.g., Platygastridae (in its
traditional sense), Scelionini, Teleasinae and Telenominae, as well as
some novel patterns of relationship. The ground-plan host for the
superfamily are the eggs of Orthoptera, with possible parallel shifts to
attack hosts in the Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera and Mantodea. The basal
relationships for the superfamily as well as relationships among genera
traditionally classified in the scelionine tribes Baryconini,
Calliscelionini and Psilanteridini were not supported. The phylogenomic
analysis of representative basal taxa recovered a clear pattern of
relationships with maximal bootstrap support. Based on the combination of
these two approaches, we present a revised classification for
Platygastroidea and recognize the following eight families: Geoscelionidae
stat. rev., Janzenellidae fam. nov., Neuroscelionidae fam. nov.,
Nixoniidae stat. rev., Platygastridae stat. rev., Proterosceliopsidae†,
Scelionidae stat. rev. and Sparasionidae stat. rev.