Phylogenomics indicates Amazonia as the major source of Neotropical swarm-founding social wasp diversity

Author(s)

Menezes, Rodolpho S. T. ^{[1, 2]} ; Lloyd, Michael W. ^{[1, 3, 4]} ; Brady, Sean G. ^{[1, 3]}

Affiliation

^[1] Smithsonian Inst, Natl Museum Nat Hist, Dept Entomol, Washington, DC 20560 - USA

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo FFCLRP USP, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras, Dept Biol, Av Bandeirantes 3900, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[3] Lloyd, Michael W., Jackson Lab, Computat Sci, 600 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 USA.Menezes, Rodolpho S. T., Smithsonian Inst, Natl Museum Nat Hist, Dept Entomol, Washington, DC 20560 - USA

^[4] Jackson Lab, Computat Sci, 600 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; v. 287, n. 1928 JUN 10 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 7

Abstract

The Neotropical realm harbours unparalleled species richness and hence has challenged biologists to explain the cause of its high biotic diversity. Empirical studies to shed light on the processes underlying biological diversification in the Neotropics are focused mainly on vertebrates and plants, with little attention to the hyperdiverse insect fauna. Here, we use phylogenomic data from ultraconserved element (UCE) loci to reconstruct for the first time the evolutionary history of Neotropical swarm-founding social wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Epiponini). Using maximum likelihood, Bayesian, and species tree approaches we recovered a highly resolved phylogeny for epiponine wasps. Additionally, we estimated divergence dates, diversification rates, and the biogeographic history for these insects in order to test whether the group followed a `museum' (speciation events occurred gradually over many millions of years) or `cradle' (lineages evolved rapidly over a short time period) model of diversification. The origin of many genera and all sampled extant Epiponini species occurred during the Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene. Moreover, we detected no major shifts in the estimated diversification rate during the evolutionary history of Epiponini, suggesting a relatively gradual accumulation of lineages with low extinction rates. Several lines of evidence suggest that the Amazonian region played a major role in the evolution of Epiponini wasps. This spatio-temporal diversification pattern, most likely concurrent with climatic and landscape changes in the Neotropics during the Miocene and Pliocene, establishes the Amazonian region as the major source of Neotropical swarm-founding social wasp diversity. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/21098-7 - Bridging chromosomal evolution and diversification in neotropical swarm-founding wasps through phylogenomics
• Grantee: Rodolpho Santos Telles de Menezes
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• FAPESP's process: 15/02432-0 - Organization and chromosomal evolution of repetitive elements in genomes of social wasps
• Grantee: Rodolpho Santos Telles de Menezes
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate