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Mol Ecol

Title:		Delimiting the cryptic diversity and host preferences of Sycophila parasitoid wasps associated with oak galls using phylogenomic data
Author(s):		Zhang YM; Sheikh SI; Ward AKG; Forbes AA; Prior KM; Stone GN; Gates MW; Egan SP; Zhang L; Davis C; Weinersmith KL; Melika G; Lucky A;
Address:		"Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA-ARS, c/o National Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA. Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA. Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. Plant Health and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Directorate of Plant Protection, Budapest, Hungary"
Journal Title:		Mol Ecol
Year:		2022
Volume:		20220711
Issue:		16
Page Number:		4417 - 4433
DOI:		10.1111/mec.16582
ISSN/ISBN:		1365-294X (Electronic) 0962-1083 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Cryptic species diversity is a major challenge regarding the species-rich community of parasitoids attacking oak gall wasps due to a high degree of sexual dimorphism, morphological plasticity, small size and poorly known biology. As such, we know very little about the number of species present, nor the evolutionary forces responsible for generating this diversity. One hypothesis is that trait diversity in the gall wasps, including the morphology of the galls they induce, has evolved in response to selection imposed by the parasitoid community, with reciprocal selection driving diversification of the parasitoids. Using a rare, continental-scale data set of Sycophila parasitoid wasps reared from 44 species of cynipid galls from 18 species of oak across the USA, we combined mitochondrial DNA barcodes, ultraconserved elements (UCEs), morphological and natural history data to delimit putative species. Using these results, we generate the first large-scale assessment of ecological specialization and host association in this species-rich group, with implications for evolutionary ecology and biocontrol. We find most Sycophila target specific subsets of available cynipid host galls with similar morphologies, and generally attack larger galls. Our results suggest that parasitoid wasps such as Sycophila have adaptations allowing them to exploit particular host trait combinations, while hosts with contrasting traits are resistant to attack. These findings support the tritrophic niche concept for the structuring of plant-herbivore-parasitoid communities"
Keywords:		Animals Phenotype Phylogeny Plants *Quercus/genetics *Wasps/genetics Chalcidoidea Cynipidae Cynipini DNA barcoding Eurytomidae UCEs tritrophic interaction ultraconserved elements;
Notes:		"MedlineZhang, Yuanmeng M Sheikh, Sofia I Ward, Anna K G Forbes, Andrew A Prior, Kirsten M Stone, Graham N Gates, Michael W Egan, Scott P Zhang, Linyi Davis, Charles Weinersmith, Kelly L Melika, George Lucky, Andrea eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2022/06/29 Mol Ecol. 2022 Aug; 31(16):4417-4433. doi: 10.1111/mec.16582. Epub 2022 Jul 11"