Taxonomic and Phylogenomic study of the species of Leurus Townes, 1946 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Metopiinae) from Brazil

• Ano de defesa: 2025
• Autor(a) principal: Moleiro, Henrique Pereira
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Instituição de defesa: Biblioteca Digitais de Teses e Dissertações da USP
• Palavras-chave em Português: Darwin wasps; Filogenômica; Phylogenomics; Taxonomia; Taxonomy; UCEs; Vespas-de-Darwin
• Link de acesso: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/38/38131/tde-20022026-101428/

The Ichneumonidae family, the largest in Hymenoptera, has more than 25,000 described species. However, knowledge about these insects in the Neotropical region is limited, especially in Brazil. Among its subfamilies, Metopiinae comprises more than 860 species described worldwide but remains notoriously understudied in Brazil, where only nine genera and 37 species are recorded. Within this subfamily, Leurus stands out for its 24 predominantly Neotropical species, which play an important role in the biological control of pest caterpillars belonging to the families Crambidae, Pyralidae, and Gelechiidae. The species Leurus caeruliventris, widely distributed in Brazil, exhibits wide morphological and color variation and can be considered a complex of cryptic species. Given this scenario, we performed a phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic review of Brazilian Leurus species. Our study compiled morphological and molecular data, specifically Ultraconserved Elements (UCEs), to deepen our knowledge of this important group. Morphological data confirm the occurrence of five species of Leurus in Brazil: L. angusthignathus, L. caeruliventris, L. discus, L. gracius, and L. nostrus. All species found in the country have been redescribed, except for L. caeruliventris, which underwent a recent revision. Our phylogenetic analysis recovered L. angusthignathus, L. gracius, and L. nostrus as monophyletic, while the other two species proved to be paraphyletic groups. Additionally, we increased the geographic records of occurrences of Brazilian species of the genus and provided high-resolution images of all of them. Finally, we made available an updated identification key for species of the genus.