Phasing in and out of phytophagy: Phylogeny and evolution of the family Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) based on Ultraconserved Elements

We present the first global molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the
family Eurytomidae, a group of chalcidoid wasps with diverse biology, with
a representative sampling (197 ingroups and 11 outgroups) that covers all
described subfamilies, and 70% of the known genera. Analyses of 962
Ultra-Conserved Elements (UCEs) with concatenation (IQ-TREE) and
multispecies coalescent approaches (ASTRAL) resulted in highly supported
topologies in recovering the monophyly of Eurytomidae and its four
subfamilies. The taxonomy of Eurytomidae, and in particular the large
subfamily Eurytominae, needs major revisions as most large genera are
recovered as para- or polyphyletic, and the erection of multiple new
genera is required in the future to accommodate these taxa. Here, we
synonymize the genera Cathilaria (C. certa, C. globiventris, C. opuntiae,
and C. rigidae) and the monotypic Aiolomorphus rhopaloides within
Tetramesa syn. nov., Parabruchophagus (P. kazakhstanicus, P. nikolskaji,
P. rasnitsyni, P. saxatilis, and P. tauricus) and Exeurytoma (E.
anatolica, E. caraganae, and E. kebanensis) within Bruchophagus syn. nov..
We also provide 137 DNA barcode COI fragments extracted from the UCE
contigs to aid in future identifications of Eurytomidae using this popular
genetic marker. Eurytomidae most likely originated in South America with
an estimated crown age of 83.37 Ma. Ancestral state reconstruction
indicates that secondary phytophagy has evolved at least seven times
within the subfamily Eurytominae, showcasing the evolutionary flexibility
of these vastly understudied wasps.