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Abstract The Earth BioGenome Project has the extremely ambitious goal of generating, at scale, high-quality reference genomes across the entire Tree of Life. Currently in its first phase, the project is targeting family-level representatives and is progressing rapidly. Here we outline recommended standards and considerations in sample acquisition and processing for those involved in biodiverse reference genome creation. These standards and recommendations will evolve with advances in related processes. Additionally, we discuss the challenges raised by the ambitions for later phases of the project, highlighting topics related to sample collection and processing that require further development. 

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.