Abstract:
Phylogeny of wasps of the genus Netelia (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) with emphasis on Costa Rican species. Results on the first cladistic analysis of the genus Netelia are presented. The analysis was carried out with the aid of the Hennig86 and Tree Gardener 2.2 programs, using a matrix of 79 taxa and 149 characters, based mainly on external morphology and male genitalia; only three characters are related to the natural history of the species. Within the in-group, representative species of the 11 subgenera of Netelia described in the world were included, although almost 80% of the species examined are from Costa Rica. To test the monophyly of the genus, five tryphonine species - Neliopisthus yui, Chiloplatys lucens, Phytodietus (Neuchorus) penai, P. (N.) lindus and P. (Phytodietus) moragai - were also included in the study group. Labena zerita (Labeninae) was used as an out-group. The search strategies of the trees included phylogenetic reconstruction by parsimony, without and with successive weighting of characters, through the commands bb *and mhennig*. In the analysis without successive weighting, 1 211 equally parsimonious trees with a length of 649 steps, Ci of 23 and Ri of 68, were obtained. In the analysis with successive weighting 1 211 trees with a length of 719 steps, Ci of 20 and Ri of 64, were obtained. The manifold cladograms obtained were summarized through two Majority Rule Consensuses trees, one for each rearch strategy. Support was found for the monophyly of the genus Netelia, and the subgenera N. (Apatagium), N. (Bessobates), N. (Monomacrodon), N. (Parabates), N. (Protonetelia), N. (Toxochilus) and N. (Longiterebates), although this last subgenus was only monophyletic in the analysis without successive weighting. Phylogenetic support was also obtained for the species groups leo, unguicularis and emorsa proposed by Townes (1938) in the subgenus N. Netelia). The results support the synonymy of N. (Toxochiloides) with the group emorsa in the New World. Phylogenetic support was not found for the subgenera N. (Netelia), N. (Prosthodocis) and N. Paropheltes), nor for the species groups virgata in N. (Bessobates) and geminata Townes in N. (Netelia). Nor was support found for a phylogenetic relation between the subgenera N. (Apatagium) and N. (Monomacrodon). Finally, with the results obtained here, the presence in Costa Rica of the subgenera N. (Longiterebates) and N. (Parabates), as documented by Gauld (1997), is rejected. The presence of N. (Bessobates) is unconditionally accepted and, for practical reasons, that of N. (Prosthodocis) and N. (Netelia); in addition, the presence of N. (Paropheltes) and N. (Toxochilus) is tentatively proposed. Rev. Biol. Trop. 57 (Suppl. 1): 213-238. Epub 2009 November 30.
