Sistemática de Agelaia Lepeletier, 1836 (Vespidae: Polistinae): filogenômica e revisão taxonômica

Agelaia Lepeletier has one of the highest species richness within the Epiponini and is widely distributed in the Neotropical region, from Mexico to Uruguay. The taxon comprises 33 valid species, some of which exhibit morphological variations, which, during their taxonomic history, have been named variations, subspecies, or forms. The objectives of this study were to perform a taxonomic revision of Agelaia, infer the phylogenetic relationships among its species using next-generation sequencing of ultraconserved elements – UCEs –, as well as morphological information and mitochondrial markers, and update the distribution and produce distribution maps. With use of UCE dataset and maximum likelihood inference, it was possible to propose a phylogenomic relationship for Agelaia, supporting the description of 10 new subgenera for the taxon. In the taxonomic revision, 33 species of the genus were redescribed, including A. xanthopus melanotica, which was elevated to the species level, beyond the designation of the lectotypes of A. angulicollis and A. xanthopus. Additionally, seven new species were described for the genus, and new identification keys and distribution maps were proposed for the species. This study increased the number of species in the genus from 33 to 41, and the phylogenetic relationships among the species were recovered with good support from phylogenomic analysis, contributing to the understanding of the evolutionary history of the taxon.