Entomology Commons^™

Eucosma Giganteana (Riley) And Sliphium Perfoliatum L., Morphological Variation In An Insect-Plant Association In Eastern South Dakota, Paul J. Johnson, Arvid Boe, Abigail P. Martens

Native Plant Focused Publications

Silphium perfoliatum L., cup plant, has potential as a new multi-purpose crop. It is pollinator-friendly and has biodiversity enhancement, conservation, economic, and medical potential. In eastern South Dakota, S. perfoliatum can produce more than 20 Mg (million grams) ha-1 of biomass and 0.09 Mg ha-1 of seed in agronomic plantings. The giant eucosma moth, Eucosma giganteana (Riley), is a major pest of agronomic S. perfoliatum in the region. We provide a summary of this insect and its association with its host. Our experimental objectives were to determine if the frequency of rhizome occupation by late instar larvae and if their …

Dna Barcoding As A Tool For Species Discovery And Documentation In The Superfamily Ichneumonoidea, Sarah Meierotto

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Changes to traditional taxonomic methods to incorporate new technologies and methods have already improved the quality of species hypotheses, but more work can be done to improve the speed of new species documentation. The mitochondrial COI DNA barcode has been successfully used to identify species with high accuracy since the early 2000s, and has been used in conjunction with morphological examinations and other DNA markers to discover and delimit new species. This thesis explores the application of DNA barcodes as the primary data for delimitation and diagnosis of new species of ichneumonoids.

The genera Zelomorpha and Hemichoma are revised and …

Multiple Lines Of Evidence From Mitochondrial Genomes Resolve Phylogenetic Relationships Of Parasitic Wasps In Braconidae, Qian Li, Shu-Jun Wei, Pu Tang, Qiong Wu, Min Shi, Michael J. Sharkey, Xue-Xin Chen

Entomology Faculty Publications

The rapid increase in the number of mitochondrial genomes in public databases provides opportunities for insect phylogenetic studies; but it also provides challenges because of gene rearrangements and variable substitution rates among both lineages and sites. Typically, phylogenetic studies use mitochondrial sequence data but exclude other features of the mitochondrial genome from analyses. Here, we undertook large-scale sequencing of mitochondrial genomes from a worldwide collection of specimens belonging to Braconidae, one of the largest families of Metazoa. The strand-asymmetry of base composition in the mitochondrial genomes of braconids is reversed, providing evidence for monophyly of the Braconidae. We have reconstructed …

Behavioral Responses Of Male Parasitic Wasps To Plant Cues: A Comparison Of Two Host-Plant Complex Sources Of Cotesia Congregata (Say), Megan Ayers

Theses and Dissertations

Prior exposure to plants cues can enhance assortative mating in insects. We hypothesized that, as previously reported for females, males of Cotesia congregata would display inherent responses to plant cues that could be modified by postemergence experience and further, that males originating from two different host-plant complexes (HPCs) would display different behavioral responses to these HPCs. In no-choice contact assays with a non-host plant, searching responses of males and females increased sharply at Day 2 and remained stable through Day 4. In no-choice assays with potential host plants, males searched longer on catalpa than tobacco; responses were not modified by …

Revision Of The Genus Euagathis Szépligeti (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) From Thailand, With Description Of Three New Species, Cornelis Van Achterberg, Michael J. Sharkey, Eric G. Chapman

Entomology Faculty Publications

The species of the genus Euagathis Szépligeti (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) from Thailand are revised. Eight species are treated, three new species are described, i.e. Euagathis breviantennata sp.n., E. setosimaculata sp. n. and E. pallitarsis sp. n. Disophrys sogdiana Fahringer, 1937, D. chinensis Fahringer, 1937, and Euagathis sentosus Chen & Yang, 1995, are new junior synonyms of Euagathis chinensis (Holm‑gren, 1868). Euagathis guangxiensis (Chen & Yang, 2006) is a new combination. Lectotypes are designated for Disophrys sogdiana Fahringer, 1937, and D. chinensis Fahringer, 1937. A dichotomous illustrated key to species is presented; links to electronic interactive keys and to distribution …

Hymenopteran Molecular Phylogenetics: From Apocrita To Braconidae (Ichneumonoidea), Barbara J. Sharanowski

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Two separate phylogenetic studies were performed for two different taxonomic levels within Hymenoptera. The first study examined the utility of expressed sequence tags for resolving relationships among hymenopteran superfamilies. Transcripts were assembled from 14,000 sequenced clones for 6 disparate Hymenopteran taxa, averaging over 660 unique contigs per species. Orthology and gene determination were performed using modifications to a previously developed computerized pipeline and compared against annotated insect genomes. Sequences from additional taxa were added from public databases with a final dataset of 24 genes for 16 taxa.

The concatenated dataset recovered a robust and well-supported topology; however, there was extreme …