First UCE phylogenomic analysis of Sapygidae reveals widespread generic paraphyly

Sapygidae (club-horned wasps) is a small family of wasps (~80 species) that are primarily parasitoids of leaf-cutting bees (Megachilidae). With growing agricultural interest in raising megachilids for pollination, the importance of understanding sapygid wasps has become important. However, past efforts to revise this family though morphology alone have proved futile. No comprehensive revision of the family exists and focused regional revisions have only rarely utilized DNA analysis. This has resulted in few and very incomplete identification guides for the family. Our study addresses this gap by applying Ultra-Conserved Element (UCE) phylogenomics to resolve generic boundaries within Sapygidae. Here we present the first UCE phylogenetic tree of Sapygidae that includes representatives from ten of the 13 described genera. Our results indicate that four genera (Krombeinopyga, Polochrum, Sapygina, Sapyga) are paraphyletic. While this paraphyly resolves the many of the disjunct populations within these genera it highlights significant issues with current generic delimitations. Ultimately, our study shows the need for a comprehensive revision of Sapygidae that integrates robust molecular data with morphological analysis.