Deciphering Morphological Variability: Addressing Taxonomic Ambiguities in Contemporary Species Delimitation (Hymenoptera, Figitidae).

ABSTRACT: Species delimitation in Charipinae hyperparasitoids (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) is notoriously difficult due to their minute size and limited morphological variability. Traditional diagnostic characters sometimes show intraspecific variation, raising concerns about their reliability. Here, we applied an integrative taxonomic framework to evaluate species boundaries among six species of Alloxysta Förster and four species of Phaenoglyphis Förster. We combined a morphological dataset of 53 characters with data from three molecular markers (COI, ITS2, and 16S rRNA) and reconstructed phylogenies under maximum-likelihood criteria. Phylogenies consistently recovered morphologically defined taxa as well-supported clades, confirming the overall reliability of traditional characters (pron

SUBMITTER: Ferrer-Suay M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12842034 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature