HomeFigsFig waspsBiologyFig classificationWasp classificationWaspWebBiodiversity Explorer

Classification of fig wasps

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera;  Superfamily: Chalcidoidea)

 
In contrast to Bouček’s (1988) classification where fig wasps were united under the single family Agaonidae, subsequent molecular investigations demonstarted that the Agaonidae as defined by Boučekis paraphyletic. Three of the constituent subfamilies of non-pollinating fig wasps (Sycoecinae, Otitesellinae and Sycoryctinae) were reassigned to the Pteromalidae, leaving the pollinating fig wasps in the Agaonidae (Rasplus et al. 1998; Campbell et al. 2000). The true taxonomic affinities of the Sycophaginae and Epichrysomallinae remain undecided, but they do not belong in the Agaonidae.

References
Bouček, Z. (1988) Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families with a reclassification of species. C.A.B. International, United Kingdom, 832 pp.

Campbell, B., Heraty, J., Rasplus, J. Y., Chan, K., Steffan-Campbell, J. & Babcock, C. (2000) Molecular systematics of the Chalcidoidea using 28S-rDNA. In: Austin A. D. & Dowton M. (Ed) The Hymenoptera: Evolution, Biodiversity and Biological Control, CSIRO Publishing, Canberra, pp. 59–73.

Rasplus J.Y., Kerdelhué, C., Le Clainche I. & Mondor, G. (1998) Molecular phylogeny of fig waps (Hymenoptera). Agaonidae are not monophyletic. Compte Rendu de l’Académie des Sciences de Paris, 321, 517–527.
 

Web authors Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

and Jean-Yves Rasplus (INRA, France)

Copyright 2004-2009 Iziko Museums of Cape Town