| dc.description.abstract | Summary of thesis:
Ichneumonid or Darwin wasps is one of, possibly the largest hymenopteran family on earth and constitute a large part of what we commonly refer to as biodiversity. Despite their often large and colorful appearance, they are still surprisingly unchartered taxonomically and a majority of the species still awaits description. Darwin wasps are potentially potent regulators of agricultural or forest pests. By being situated at a high trophic level, they could also play an important role as useful indicators of ecosystem stability and biodiversity.
However, the lack of fundamental taxonomic research, comprehensible identification keys and faunistic records for most species prevents the practical use of Darwin wasps in conservation biology and biological pest control, which is deeply unsatisfying. The deficiency in knowledge becomes even more undesirable when considering that Darwin wasps could play a major role in the most urgent turn towards an ecologically sustainable society, where biological pest control and potent biodiversity indicators are important tools.
Sweden is a large country covering several biogeographic regions and from an international perspective, the fauna is seen as comparatively well-known. All major types of land habitats known in Northern and Central Europe are represented within the country’s boundaries. This means that the national diversity of ichneumonids in Sweden is fairly representative for Northern and Central Europe as a whole. As in other Western European countries, modern agriculture and forestry have had a profound impact on the ecosystem by turning natural and semi-natural forests into species-poor plantations and introducing large scale industrial farming practices which relies heavily on biocides for pest control.
The main aim of the thesis is to give a contribution to the basic taxonomy and at the same time make Darwin wasps accessible as tools for nature conservation or research on population dynamics by providing easy-to-use keys and presenting information on their ecology, abundance and distribution. The genera, which are the focus of this study are all parasitoids on popular and well-known hosts, such as moths, saproxylic beetles and hoverflies. Apart from their host connections, most of the treated genera are also commonly encountered and noted by coleopterists and lepidopterists, which makes them ideal when it comes to raise awareness and interest of these fascinating wasps among these two dominating groups of entomologists.
The thesis is based on the collection and thorough examination of several thousands of specimens, including all of the relevant and accessible type material stored in institutions in Europe and North America. In absence of types, some species have been interpreted based on a thorough examination and evaluation of their original descriptions and available information on their ecology and hosts.
Firstly, the basic taxonomy is sorted out, mainly using classic morphological analysis. When possible, the morphological methods are complemented by integrative taxonomy using molecular analysis to identify potentially cryptic species and to support species hypothesis. In total, 28 species are described as new to science. Additionally, 22 new synonymies are established and 6 species are reinstated as valid taxa. Furthermore, several lectotypes and neotypes are designated to promote nomenclatorial stability and new faunistic records and host records and additional information on ecology are presented. Secondly, richly illustrated identification keys are presented. The keys use several new distinguishing characters and are constructed to meet the needs of people with a more general interest in entomology and researchers not previously familiar with Darwin wasps. Thirdly, the distributional and ecological information presented by the study is discussed in a conservation context.
The main aim of the thesis, to bridge the gap between descriptive taxonomy and nature conservation has already been illustrated in practice, as several of the treated genera have been assessed for the Swedish Red list for the first time based on the taxonomic, distributional and ecological information provided by this study. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Sammendrag
Ny avhandling avslører skjult biologisk mangfold.
Darwinvepser (Hymenoptera; Ichneumonidae) lever som parasitoider på andre insekter. De er sannsynligvis den største vepsefamiliene på jorden og utgjør dermed en betydelig del av det vi kaller biologisk mangfold. Til tross for dette er de fleste artene fortsatt ubeskrevne og også i relativt godt undersøkte regioner, som Norden, mangler kunnskap om antall arter og deres avgrensning samt økologi .
Parasittiske vepser er høyt oppe i næringskjeden og er derfor potensielt gode indikatorer på biologisk mangfold og økosystemets stabilitet. Dette betyr at de egner seg godt for populasjonsøkologiske studier og vil kunne spille en viktig rolle i f.eks. oppfølging av praktiske naturverntiltak eller som signalarter for vernede naturmiljøer, noe som i dag hindres av rådende kunnskapsmangel.
Avhandlingen tar for seg en rekke mer eller mindre iøynefallende slekter av Darwinvepser. Studiene, som inkluderer både klassiske morfologiske metoder og DNA-sekvensering, utreder artenes taksonomi og systematikk, d.v.s. navn, egenskaper og slektskapsforhold. Til en viss grad behandles også artenes økologi.
Resultatene avslører et tidligere oversett mangfold. Totalt behandles 113 arter som tilhører 8 slekter. Tjueåtte arter tilhørende fire underfamilier beskrives som nye for vitenskapen, alle basert på nordisk materiale og ikke mindre enn 20 arter, i tillegg til de nybeskrevne artene, er oppført som nye for Norden. I tillegg etableres 22 nye synonymer og 7 arter som tidligere ble ansett som synonymer reetableres som gode arter. De behandlede artene har det til felles at de alle parasitterer relativt kjente insektgrupper som sommerfugler, vedlevende biller og blomsterfluer, noe som gjør at de nå relativt enkelt kan inkluderes i populasjonsøkologiske studier. For å øke tilgjengeligheten presenteres også pedagogiske og rikt illustrerte identifikasjonsnøkler til et flertall av artene.
Avhandlingen viser med all ønsket tydelighet betydelsen av å prioritere solid taksonomisk grunnforskning og hvordan denne kan legges til grunn i nesten all vitenskapelig forskning som bidrar til å forhindre globalt tap av biologisk mangfold. | en_US |
