Simultaneous molecular and morphological analysis of braconid relationships (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Braconidae) indicates independent mt-tRNA gene inversions within a single wasp family.

We investigated the phylogeny of the Braconidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) with a much expanded data set compared with that of previous attempts, employing 16S and 28S rDNA gene fragments, together with a suite of morphological characters, from 74 ingroup taxa. Most notably, parsimony analyses under a range of models recovered the Aphidiinae as sister group to the cyclostomes and the Ichneutinae as sister group to the microgastroids. The cyclostomes were recovered as a natural group only if certain, putatively misplaced genera (Mesostoa, Aspilodemon) were excluded from them. Further, mapping of rearrangement characters onto this phylogeny of the Braconidae indicated parallel inversions of the mt-tRNAD gene, with the two instances of inversion distinguishable by the presence or absence of an additional tRNA gene (tRNAH). This is the first report of a parallel inversion of a mt-tRNA gene and makes the Braconidae the first metazoan family to display both parallel inversions and translocations.