Systematics of the problematic genus Epyris (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae): Breaking up a taxonomic wastebasket

With a worldwide distribution and a huge range of morphological and behavioral diversity, Epyris is the largest genus within Bethylidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea). For decades, bethylid systematists have considered the genus as a taxonomic wastebasket for its lack of synapomorphies and the numerous synonymized genera that it contains. Using mitochondrial 16S, Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I, and Cytochrome B and nuclear 18S and 28S genes, the first phylogeny to truly treat the worldwide diversity of Epyris and the subfamily Epyrinae was reconstructed using parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian techniques. Epyris was repeatedly found as nonmonophyletic, although well-supported clades of Epyris were consistently recovered. One of these clades contained the type species, Epyris niger Westwood, and was easily recognized by the distinct synapomorphy of large, nearly touching scuttelar pits. From Epyris sensu stricto, five new species were described from Australia, from which only two known species were previously described.