Miss Mollie-Rosae Slater-Baker1, Dr Michelle Guzik1, Dr Juanita Rodriguez2, Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries1,3

1School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia, 2Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, Canberra, Australia, 3South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia

Biography:

Mollie Slater-Baker is a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on the taxonomy and systematics of parasitoid wasps in Australia.

Abstract:

Rogadinae is a subfamily of parasitoid wasps belonging to the megadiverse family Braconidae. Rogadines are commonly known as ‘mummy wasps’, where members of the subfamily share the unique trait of mummifying their caterpillar hosts as the larvae develop. These wasps are found throughout Australia, however only a fraction of their estimated diversity is formally documented. A particularly poorly studied tribe, the Betylobraconini, was only found to belong to Rogadinae within the last decade following molecular work. Betylobraconini is largely endemic to Australia and surrounding regions, however the biology of all members of the tribe remains completely unknown, and their likely hosts can only be speculated based on morphology and the habits of related taxa. This project employs a combination of DNA barcoding for rapid assessment of rogadine diversity, along with a genome skimming approach to extract Ultra Conserved Elements and mitochondrial genomes from both fresh and museum specimens. Molecular methods are used alongside efficient morphological examination to document and explore the diversity of the Australian Rogadinae and provide a foundational taxonomic and systematics framework for further work. With a focus on members of the Betylobraconini, the project also aims to provide a better understanding of the evolutionary history and biology of this poorly understood group. Here, initial results of the project are presented, including data on the distribution and diversity of Australian Rogadinae based on DNA barcodes, and outlooks for further study.