United States
£ GBP
The Eucharitidae are revised at the generic level on a worldwide basis. The revision addresses the taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships of 53 genera in two subfamilies. In all, 413 species of Eucharitidae are treated as either new species or in a catalog of species included with each genus. The phylogenetic relationships of Eucharitidae are analyzed with a matrix of 100 morphological characters, and using Akapalinae and Perilampidae as the outgroups. Various combinations of character states were analyzed using parsimony, and the differing results are discussed. In general, the basal relationships of Eucharitidae are stable and support earlier proposals of a monophyletic Oraseminae (4 genera) as sister group to a monophyletic Psilocharitini (2 genera) + Eucharitini (47 genera). Four distinct clades are recognized; the Eucharis clade (9 genera) Stilbula cladade (10 genera), Kapala clade (12 genera) and the Chalcura clade (11 genera). These relationships are discussed with respect to the associated ant host relationships.
