Phylogenetic relationships of the Alyslinae/Opiinae (Hymenoptera:Braconidae) and the utility of cytochrome b, 16S and 28S D2 rRNA

Abstract

Subfamily to generic level relationships among the Opiinae and Alysiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) were investigated using DNA sequence data from c. 400 bp fragments of the cytochrome b, 16S rRNA and 28S D2 rRNA genes. The best recovery of morphologically-defined groups was achieved by 28S D2, followed by 16S with cytochrome b being very uninformative. We suggest ribosomal expansion regions may prove useful for this level of phylogenetic reconstruction. Combined analyses on all genes (using several alignment and phylogenetic methods) improved resolution but failed to resolve the proposed paraphyly of the Opiinae and Alysiini. Support was found for other relationships within the Opiinae and, contrary to a previous morphological study, there was strong evidence against the Gnamptodontinae being the sister group of the Opiinae/Alysiinae clade.