Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 68(1): 3-33, doi: 10.3897/asp.68.e31707
Simultaneous analysis and the origin of eusociality in the Vespidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera)
Kurt M. Pickett‡, James M. Carpenter‡ University of Vermont, Burlington
Corresponding author: Kurt Pickett ( kurt.pickett@uvm.edu ) © Kurt Pickett, James Carpenter. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
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Abstract
A review of the literature concerning the phylogenetics of the Vespidae is presented. We also present a new phylogenetic analysis of the Vespidae based on what is by far the largest taxon sample to include molecular data, and the largest phenotypic character dataset ever compiled. Relationships among the subfamilies are Euparagiinae + (Masarinae + (Eumeninae + (Stenogastrinae + (Polistinae + Vespinae)))), with all the subfamilies monophyletic. A single origin of eusociality is thus supported. Our results empirically supersede all previous treatments and should be the preferred scaffold of the family for studies of social behavior.
Keywords
Polistes, Polybia, Eumeninae, solitary wasps, social wasps, congruence, direct optimization