The evolutionary history of mammoth wasps (Hymenoptera: Scoliidae)
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Scoliid wasps comprise a clade of aculeate insects whose larvae are parasitoids of scarabaeid beetle grubs. While scoliids have been studied and used as biological control agents, research into the group’s evolution, as well as the stability of scoliid taxonomy, has been limited by a lack of reliable phylogenies. We use ultraconserved element (UCE) data under concatenation and the multispecies coalescent to infer a phylogeny of the Scoliidae. In order to mitigate potential issues arising from model misspecification, we perform data filtering experiments using posterior predictive checks and matched-pairs tests of symmetry. Our analyses confirm the position of Proscolia as sister to all other extant scoliids. We also find strong support for a sister group relationship between the campsomerine genus Colpa and the Scoliini, rendering the Campsomerini non-monophyletic. Campsomerini excluding Colpa (hereafter Campsomerini sensu stricto ) is inferred to be monophyletic, with the Australasian genus Trisciloa recovered as sister to the remaining members of the group. Out of nine genera in which more than one species was sampled, Campsomeriella , Dielis , Megascolia , and Scolia are inferred to be non-monophyletic. Analyses incorporating fossil data indicate an Early Cretaceous origin of the crown Scoliidae, with the split between Scoliini + Colpa and Campsomerini s.s. most probably occurring in the Late Cretaceous. Posterior means of Scoliini + Colpa and Campsomerini s.s. crown ages are estimated to be in the Paleogene, though age 95% HPD intervals extend slightly back past the K-Pg boundary, and analyses including fossils of less certain placement result in more posterior mass on older ages. Our estimates of the stem ages of Nearctic scoliid clades are consistent with dispersal across Beringia during the Oligocene or later Eocene. Our study provides a foundation for future research into scoliid wasp evolution and biogeography by being the first to leverage genome-scale data and model-based methods. However, the precision of our dating analyses is constrained by the paucity of well-preserved fossils reliably attributable to the scoliid crown group. Despite concluding that the higher-level taxonomy of the Scoliidae is in dire need of revision, we recommend that taxonomic changes be predicated on datasets that extend the geographic and taxonomic sampling of the current study.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".