›› 2002, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (6): 794-804.

• RESEARCH PAPERS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

On the external male genitalia and phylogenetic relationships of the tribal taxa of Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

YOU Lan-Shao1, XIAO Zhi-Shu1, BO Lian-Yang1, ZHOU Zhi-Hong2   

  • Online:2002-12-20 Published:2002-12-20

Abstract: Five characters of the external male genitalia of 67 microgastrine species of 21 genera distributed in the Oriental and Palaearctic regions (including 14 genera known from China) and 2 species of Cardiochiles (as outgroup)were studied comparatively. Based on morphological studies, 34 characters including head, thorax, abdomen, female and male genitalia, and biological characters of 21 genera of 5 tribes were selected for cladistic analysis in an attempt to reassess the phylogenetic relationships among the tribes and genera of the Microgastrinae previously described by Mason (1981). The results generally supported Mason's framework of two main clades (Apantelini+Microgastrini) and (Forniciini+ Cotesiini+Microplitini) in the Microgastrinae. The tribes Apantelini, ForniciinI and Microplitini as monophyletic groups were also supported, but other two tribes, Microgastrini and Cotesiini, defined by Mason (1981) were not supported as monophyletic groups by the cladistic analysis. In conclusion, the tribes arranged by Mason (1981), although imperfect, are generally credible and applicable, and we consequently disagree with Walker et al.'s (1990) opinion that Mason's classification is not applicable.

Key words: Microgastrinae, external male genitalia, tribal taxon, phylogeny, cladistics