The circumscription of the family Ormyridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) is revised after phylogenetic analysis based on ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) and comparative morphological assessment of the chalcid ‘Gall Clade’. Six genera are treated in the family, including two new genera, Halleriaphagus van Noort and Burks, gen. nov., and Ouma Mitroiu, gen. nov. One genus, Eubeckerella Narendran, is re-assigned to the family, and Ormyrulus Bouček is synonymised with Ormyrus Westwood, syn. nov., resulting in the new combination Ormyrus gibbus (Bouček), comb. nov. The six genera are classified in three subfamilies, two of which are newly described, Asparagobiinae van Noort, Burks, Mitroiu and Rasplus, subfam. nov., and Hemadinae van Noort, Burks, Mitroiu and Rasplus, subfam. nov. Halleriaphagus is established for the newly described type species Halleriaphagus phagolucida van Noort and Burks, sp. nov., and Ouma is erected for O. daleskeyae Mitroiu, sp. nov., and O. emazantsi Mitroiu, sp. nov. Asparagobius is revised with description of Asparagobius bouceki van Noort, sp. nov., and Asparagobius copelandi Rasplus and van Noort, sp. nov. Asparagobius and Halleriaphagus are classified in Asparagobiinae, Hemadas in Hemadinae and Eubeckerella, Ormyrus and Ouma in Ormyrinae. The molecular support defining the ormyrid clade is corroborated by the proposed morphological synapomorphy of a foliaceous prepectus overlying the tegula base. Identification keys to the genera of Ormyridae and to the species of Asparagobius and Ouma are provided. Online Lucid identification keys and images of all the species treated herein are available at: http://www.waspweb.org.
Zoobank Registration: LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8811695B-EE57-4C18-A6B6-E63D267E2373.
Zygaenidae, also known as burnet, forester, smoky, or leaf skeletonizer moths, are a family of mainly diurnal moths well known for their aposematic colouration and the ability to release hydrogen cyanide as a defence mechanism. So far, few attempts have been made to understand the evolutionary history of the global zygaenid fauna. Here, we inferred the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny for Zygaenidae to date and estimated the lineage timing-of-divergence with a Bayesian approach. Building on earlier work, we significantly increased the taxon and gene sampling for the family, which here included data from 30 gene fragments, recovered from public databases or newly sequenced, for almost 30% of the species representing 92 genera (49%) and all five subfamilies. We recovered strong support for the monophyly of Zygaenidae, Chalcosiinae, and Zygaeninae. Procridinae were recovered as monophyletic with low support, whereas the monophyly of Callizygaeninae remains untested as we sampled only one of the two genera. In the core dataset, we recovered Procridinae as sister to Callizygaeninae + Chalcosiinae. This large clade is the sister lineage to Zygaeninae. The position of Inouelinae could not be resolved. The lineage leading to the extant Zygaenidae appears to have diverged in Late Cretaceous (ca. 86 Ma), while the divergence among the subfamilies occurred several million years before the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction event (ca. 66 Ma). Additionally, we provide a review of known fossil Zygaenidae as Appendix S1. Our results form a strong basis for future studies of zygaenid biosystematics, including their ecology, evolution, and behaviour.