Topic: Taxonomic review and history of the diversification of a genus of Chalcididae (Pteromalidae) (Philotrypesis)
Dates: 1st May 2024 – 31st October 2025
CBGP Supervisors: J.Y. Rasplus, A. Craud & S. Nidelet
Yuran Li is a PhD student at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG, Yunnan, China) under the supervision of Professor Yan-Qiong Peng (Kumming University) and Jean-Yves Rasplus. She is working on the taxonomic revision and evolutionary history of a genus of Chalcididae (Pteromalidae) (Philotrypesis).
This genus is one of the many evolutionary lineages of wasps associated with fig trees (Ficus, Moraceae). Species of Philotrypesis have long been regarded as parasitoids of Ficus pollinators (Agaonidae) or as inhabitants of their galls, but they also develop at the expense of the seeds. Philotrypesis comprises 52 described species, with nearly 100 awaiting description in our collections.
Yuran Li has been visiting the CBGP for over a year to train in the taxonomy of chalcid wasps in general and fig-dwelling Pteromalidae in particular. During her stay, she has begun revising the genus Philotrypesis. She has worked in the collection suite mounting and photographing the specimens under study, and in the molecular biology suite barcoding all the specimens. However, as taxonomy is a long and meticulous process, a one-year internship is not sufficient to complete this in-depth revision. Yuran’s visit was extended by six months in May 2025 so that she could complete her work and finalise her research.
She has acquired shotgun data on species from mainland Asia at the XTBG and will spend these additional six months constructing UCE libraries for species in our collection in order to establish a robust evolutionary hypothesis. Using the resulting phylogeny and a database of traits for Philotrypesis and fig trees (biology, size, ovipositor length, fig diameter, habitats, etc.), she will conduct analyses of historical biogeography and diversification (traits, species). She will compare the evolutionary history of Philotrypesis with that of Ficus and Agaonidae in order to better understand the assembly patterns of sycophilous insect communities and the importance of certain traits in host shifts, speciation on the host, and the diversification of species groups.
