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Distributional checklists of the extant, described species of five superfamilies of Hymenoptera of Canada, Alaska and Greenland are presented. In total, 296 species in 79 genera in 12 families are recorded: 55 species of Ceraphronoidea, classified in 10 genera in 2 families, 205 species of Cynipoidea in 58 genera in 5 families, 30 species of Evanioidea in 5 genera in 3 families of Evanioidea, 2 species of Stephanoidea in 2 genera in 1 family and 4 species of Trigonalyoidea in 4 genera in 1 family. Of the reported species, 281 (in 79 genera in 12 families) are listed from Canada, 31 (in 16 genera in 6 families) from Alaska, and 7 (in 5 genera in 2 families) from Greenland. The list includes 8 new generic records for Canada (1 Ceraphronoidea, 6 Cynipoidea and 1 Evanioidea) and 43 new Canadian species records (13 Ceraphronoidea, 28 Cynipoidea and 2 Evanioidea). For each species in Canada, distribution is tabulated by province or territory, except the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is divided into the island of Newfoundland and the region of Labrador. These checklists are compared with previous Nearctic and Palaearctic surveys, checklists and catalogues.Kleidotoma minimaProvancher, 1883 (Figitidae) is moved from this genus toHexacolaFörster, 1869 to formH. minimum(Provancher, 1883),comb. nov.Amblynotus slossonaeCrawford, 1917 (Figitidae) is moved fromMelanipsWalker, 1835 toAmphithectusHartig, 1840 formingA. slossonae(Crawford, 1917),comb. nov. 

Robust keys exist for the family-level groups of Cynipoidea. However, for most regions of the world, keys to genera are not available. To address this gap as it applies to North America, a fully illustrated key is provided to facilitate identification of the tribes and genera of rose gall, herb gall, and inquiline gall wasps known from the region. For each taxon covered, a preliminary diagnosis and an updated overview of taxonomy, biology, distribution, and natural history are provided. 

We review the tribes of Cynipidae that are known to contain gall inducers on herbaceous plants, which are presently classified in four tribes: Aulacideini, Aylacini, Diastrophini, and Phanacidini. We provide a revised key to these tribes, diagnostic characters for each tribe, and an updated key to brachypterous and apterous Cynipoidea including the inclusion of brachyptery in Phanacidini. We propose the replacement name Eubothrus Förster, 1869 for the genus Isocolus Förster, 1869 (Aulacideini) as the latter is a homonym of the trilobite genus Isocolus Angelin, 1854 (Trilobita: Isocolidae). We also provide a checklist of world herb gall wasp species including host plant and geographic distribution data. Overall, we report 166 species of herb gall wasps, finding 96 species in 11 genera in Aulacideini, 6 species in 3 genera in Aylacini, and 39 species in 4 genera in Phanacidini, as well as 25 gall-inducing species in 3 genera in Diastrophini, of which 11 are or probably are associated with herbaceous plants. Online Lucid identification keys and images of all the taxa treated herein are available at: http://www.waspweb.org. 

Abstract The order Hymenoptera (wasps, ants, sawflies, and bees) represents one of the most diverse animal lineages, but whether specific key innovations have contributed to its diversification is still unknown. We assembled the largest time-calibrated phylogeny of Hymenoptera to date and investigated the origin and possible correlation of particular morphological and behavioral innovations with diversification in the order: the wasp waist of Apocrita; the stinger of Aculeata; parasitoidism, a specialized form of carnivory; and secondary phytophagy, a reversal to plant-feeding. Here, we show that parasitoidism has been the dominant strategy since the Late Triassic in Hymenoptera, but was not an immediate driver of diversification. Instead, transitions to secondary phytophagy (from parasitoidism) had a major influence on diversification rate in Hymenoptera. Support for the stinger and the wasp waist as key innovations remains equivocal, but these traits may have laid the anatomical and behavioral foundations for adaptations more directly associated with diversification. 

Abstract Background Parasitoidism, a specialized life strategy in which a parasite eventually kills its host, is frequently found within the insect order Hymenoptera (wasps, ants and bees). A parasitoid lifestyle is one of two dominant life strategies within the hymenopteran superfamily Cynipoidea, with the other being an unusual plant-feeding behavior known as galling. Less commonly, cynipoid wasps exhibit inquilinism, a strategy where some species have adapted to usurp other species’ galls instead of inducing their own. Using a phylogenomic data set of ultraconserved elements from nearly all lineages of Cynipoidea, we here generate a robust phylogenetic framework and timescale to understand cynipoid systematics and the evolution of these life histories. Results Our reconstructed evolutionary history for Cynipoidea differs considerably from previous hypotheses. Rooting our analyses with non-cynipoid outgroups, the Paraulacini, a group of inquilines, emerged as sister-group to the rest of Cynipoidea, rendering the gall wasp family Cynipidae paraphyletic. The families Ibaliidae and Liopteridae, long considered archaic and early-branching parasitoid lineages, were found nested well within the Cynipoidea as sister-group to the parasitoid Figitidae. Cynipoidea originated in the early Jurassic around 190 Ma. Either inquilinism or parasitoidism is suggested as the ancestral and dominant strategy throughout the early evolution of cynipoids, depending on whether a simple (three states: parasitoidism, inquilinism and galling) or more complex (seven states: parasitoidism, inquilinism and galling split by host use) model is employed. Conclusions Our study has significant impact on understanding cynipoid evolution and highlights the importance of adequate outgroup sampling. We discuss the evolutionary timescale of the superfamily in relation to their insect hosts and host plants, and outline how phytophagous galling behavior may have evolved from entomophagous, parasitoid cynipoids. Our study has established the framework for further physiological and comparative genomic work between gall-making, inquiline and parasitoid lineages, which could also have significant implications for the evolution of diverse life histories in other Hymenoptera.