Abstract Planidia are free‐living, mobile first‐instar larvae that are notable in their ability to transition across different larval stages of their host, and for completing their development on the host prepupa as ectoparasitoids, effectively acting as larval‐pupal external koinobionts. Chalcidoid taxa with a planidium form a monophyletic group, the planidial larva clade (PLC). We conducted a phylogenomic study of the PLC using anchored hybrid enrichment data. Phylogenetic analyses support the backbone relationship of PLC as: (Eutrichosomatinae, ((Philomidinae, Chrysolampinae), (Perilampinae, Eucharitidae))). Although excluded from the main analyses, the genus Jambiya , based on only 11 loci recovered, was placed as the sister of Chrysolampinae + Philomidinae or Perilampinae + Eucharitidae. Our results demonstrate that Perilampidae (Philomidinae, Chrysolampinae and Perilampinae) are paraphyletic. Divergence dating based on four node calibrations based on fossils suggests that the PLC arose approximately 111 Ma and the evolution of ant parasitism at least 64 Ma. Host associations, direct versus indirect hyperparasitism, ability to attack a host within a cocoon, soft versus hard planidial forms and mobility of the planidium were explored using a likelihood‐based ancestral state reconstruction method. A revised higher‐level classification of the PLC is proposed, with Eutrichosomatinae elevated to Eutrichosomatidae ( stat. rev. ), Chrysolampinae and Philomidinae placed in Chrysolampidae ( stat. rev. ), Perilampidae ( stat. rev. ) restricted to what was referred to as Perilampinae, and Eucharitidae maintained with four subfamilies, with Akapalinae (unknown biology) as sister group to the core Eucharitidae, all of which are ant parasitoids. Jambiya is treated as an incertae sedis taxon within the planidial clade.

The first phylogeny of the family Nabidae based on molecular data confirms the monophyly of the family. The monophyly and internal relationships within Nabini were evaluated and compared with previous studies, and a new tribe, Stenonabini, was proposed. The divergence between Nabinae and Prostemmatinae occurred during the Late Jurassic, and the Nabinae began to diversify with the appearance of the angiosperm plants based on the molecular dating analysis.

ABSTRACT We present the first phylogenetic hypothesis for the cosmopolitan family Argidae based on both molecular and morphological data. Furthermore, we present a biogeographic scenario based on a dated phylogeny and interpret the evolutionary history of the family. Information from sequences of eight genes is analysed to reconstruct the phylogeny of the Argidae based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Total evidence Bayesian analyses are also conducted, combining the molecular dataset with data from adult and larval morphology. For the historical biogeographic reconstruction, divergence times are estimated using node dating with uncorrelated relaxed‐clock analysis, and ancestral biogeographical distributions are estimated applying a Dispersal Extinction Cladogenesis model and a Bayesian binary model. Argidae s.s. is retrieved as monophyletic in all analyses and the clade Zenargidae + (Argidae + Pergidae) is better supported when combining molecular and morphological characters, and when excluding the saturated third codon position in the molecular analysis. Within Argidae, two large clades corresponding to the subfamilies Arginae and Sterictiphorinae sensu Benson are retrieved as monophyletic. The ancestral distribution of Arginae and Sterictiphorinae is estimated to be the Australian and Neotropical regions. Divergence of Argidae‐Pergidae and Arginae‐Sterictiphorinae is estimated to occur in the middle‐upper Jurassic before or during the east‐west Gondwana breakup. Diversification of Argidae may be associated with the radiation of angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous, especially for the Neotropical Sterictiphorinae after the separation of South America and Africa. Arginae were probably introduced to the northern hemisphere by dispersal to Africa and/or India and subsequent continental collision with Eurasia in the Cenozoic. The occurrence of Sterictiphorinae in the northern hemisphere is more difficult to explain. Maternal care and brood guarding behaviour evolved independently in Argidae and Pergidae, with a single origin in a subclade (Dielocerini) of Sterictiphorinae.

A revised phylogeny of the soil-burrowing cockroaches (Blaberidae: Geoscapheinae) confirms rampant nonmonophyly of natural groups at all taxonomic levels, including the recovery of a polyphyletic Geoscapheinae within a paraphyletic Panesthiinae. Morphology and species distributions are reflected in the phylogeny presented here: geoscapheine species with additional morphological reductions fall within clades that inhabit more arid environments and have comparatively earlier divergence times. A thorough taxonomic revision of both of these subfamilies is required; current evidence no longer warrants subfamilial status for Geoscapheinae and we recommend it be subsumed within Panesthiinae.

Abstract Reconstructing a robust phylogenetic framework is key to understanding the ecology and evolution of many economically important taxa. The crambid moth genus Ostrinia contains multiple agricultural pests, and its classification and phylogeny has remained controversial because of the paucity of characters and the lack of clear morphological boundaries for its species. To address these issues, we inferred a molecular phylogeny of Ostrinia using a phylogenomic dataset containing 498 loci and 115 197 nucleotide sites and examined whether traditional morphological characters corroborate our molecular results. Our results strongly support the monophyly of one of the Ostrinia species groups but surprisingly do not support the monophyly of the other two. Based on the extensive morphological examination and broadly representative taxon sampling of the phylogenomic analyses, we propose a revised classification of the genus, defined by three species groups ( Ostrinia nubilalis species group, Ostrinia obumbratalis species group, and Ostrinia penitalis species group), which differs from the traditional classification of Mutuura & Munroe (1970). Morphological and molecular evidence reveal the presence of a new North American species, Ostrinia multispinosa Yang sp.n. , closely related to O . obumbratalis . Our analyses indicate that the Ostrinia ancestral larval host preference was for dicots, and that O . nubilalis (European corn borer) and Ostrinia furnacalis (Asian corn borer) independently evolved a preference for feeding on monocots (i.e., maize). Males of a few Ostrinia species have enlarged, grooved midtibiae with brush organs that are known to attract females to increase mating success during courtship, which may represent a derived condition. Our study provides a strong evolutionary framework for this agriculturally important insect lineage.

Abstract Atta Fabricius is an ecologically dominant leaf‐cutting ant genus, the major herbivore of the Neotropics, and an agricultural pest of great economic importance. Phylogenetic relationships within Atta have until now remained uncertain, and the delimitation and identification of a subset of Atta species are problematic. To address these phylogenetic uncertainties, we reconstruct the most comprehensive phylogenetic estimate to date of Atta by employing ultraconserved elements (UCEs). We recovered 2340 UCE loci from 224 Atta specimens, which include 14 out of the 15 identifiable species from across their geographic distributions, and 49 outgroup specimens. Our results strongly support the monophyly of Atta and of the four clades that coincide with the previously recognized subgenera Archeatta Gonçalves, Atta s.s. Emery, Epiatta Borgmeier, and Neoatta Gonçalves. The Archeatta clade contains three species occurring in North and Central America and the Caribbean and is the sister group of the remainder of all other Atta species. The Atta s.s. clade is composed of two species occupying North, Central, and South America. The Epiatta clade contains seven entirely South American species and the two species of the Neoatta clade occur in Central and South America. Divergence‐dating analyses identify a series of major events in the Miocene, such as the divergence of Acromyrmex Mayr and Atta 16.7 million years ago (Ma) and the crown‐group origin of Atta around 8.5 Ma. Extant Atta species evolved very recently, originating in the early Pleistocene, approximately 1.8–0.3 Ma (crown‐group ages). We provide the first evidence that Atta goiana Gonçalves belongs to the Epiatta clade and that Atta robusta Borgmeier is the species with the youngest crown‐group age of 0.3 Ma. The very young ages of Atta and its component species indicate a recent, rapid radiation. Biogeographic analyses suggest that the range of the most recent common ancestor of Atta consisted of the combined North/Central America and NW South America bioregions and that one daughter lineage subsequently dispersed into South America, rapidly diversifying in the newly formed Cerrado biome and Chaco, and further dispersing into the Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and Pampas bioregions.

Abstract Nabidae is a small predatory family within Cimicomorpha; however, the internal classification within this family has been unclear and controversial, confusing researchers in various fields. This study presents the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Nabidae based on a molecular dataset comprising 16 outgroup and 40 ingroup taxa. A total of 3791 base pairs of mitochondrial (16S, cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and nuclear (18S, 28S) sequences were analyzed based on parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Topologies from all analyses were largely congruent. Except for the paraphyly of the second largest genus, Himacerus Wolff, Nabidae and all its subgroups were monophyletic. Based on the result, the validity of the genus Stalia Reuter was confirmed, and phylogenetic relationships of the clades at the genus level were discussed. Finally, a revised classification with the Stenonabini trib.n. is proposed. In addition, molecular dating analysis was used to estimate divergence times within Nabidae. Estimation based on the Bayesian framework revealed that the divergence between Nabinae and Prostemmatinae occurred during the Late Jurassic (152–154.44 Ma). Subsequently, most of the groups in Nabidae diversified in the Late Cretaceous. Based on the estimation result, we hypothesized that Nabinae has evolved and diversified with adaptation to angiosperm plants.

Abstract Understanding phylogenetic relationships within the family Culicidae informs mosquito evolution and may have public health implications as this family includes numerous species of medical and veterinary importance. We investigated the mitochondrial genomes of 102 mosquitoes, including six newly sequenced species, representing 21 genera with an emphasis on the Neotropical region. We estimated divergence times based on sequence data and three fossil calibration points, using Bayesian relaxed clock methods. Bayesian and maximum‐likelihood phylogenetic analyses based on the DNA sequences of 13 PCGs of the 102 species provided robust support for the monophyly of the subfamily Anophelinae and the tribes Aedini, Culicini, Mansoniini and Sabethini. Despite the current genera of Anophelinae being consistently recovered as monophyletic, relationships among them proved to be quite variable depending on the method used (concatenated or partitioned) and the number of taxa sampled. Molecular divergence time estimates revealed that the two mosquito subfamilies, Anophelinae and Culicinae, diverged in the early Jurassic (approximately 197.5 Mya). However, most major lineages of these groups arose after the Cretaceous, coincident with the emergence of angiosperms and the expansion of mammals and birds. The diversification and worldwide distribution of Culicidae may also be determined in part by geographic isolation as a result of continental drift during the Cretaceous.

Abstract The evolutionary history of Ichneumoninae, the largest subfamily of ichneumonid wasps, is investigated using genomic ultraconserved elements (UCEs). The dataset includes 147 species in 130 genera of Ichneumoninae and 155 outgroup taxa from 19 subfamilies. Matrices with varying degrees of completeness were analysed with different partition schemes and the resulting topologies were found to be mostly congruent. All analyses recovered Ichneumoninae as a monophyletic group, sister to all other Ichneumoniformes except Agriotypinae. Almost no support was found for previous tribal classification schemes, except that the tribes Phaeogenini and Platylabini are largely monophyletic. A new tribal classification is proposed based on the relationships recovered, consisting of seven tribes: Alomyini Förster, Phaeogenini Förster, Notosemini Townes, Eurylabini Heinrich, Platylabini Berthoumieu, Ichneumonini Latreille and a new monogeneric tribe, Abzariini Santos & Wahl. As documented in other lineages of Ichneumonidae, pervasive morphological convergence poses a challenge to the establishment of higher‐level groups that are both monophyletic and diagnosable. Extremely short branches at the base of the Ichneumoninae clade suggest that the group may have undergone a rapid radiation when it first diverged, potentially associated with its specialization on lepidopteran hosts. Multiple changes in the morphology of the female abdomen suggest that morphological convergence is associated with multiple transitions in the use of pupal versus larval hosts across the subfamily. The results demonstrate the power of phylogenomic approaches to resolve evolutionary relationships in hyper‐diverse and poorly studied insect groups and to provide a framework for testing evolutionary hypotheses.