Revisionary Systematics of Parasitic Hymenoptera:

Interactive Keys to Principal Species of the Genus Cotesia - This project, funded by the USDA-NRI program, is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Mike Sharkey at the University of Kentucky. The Delta program Intkey is being used to link up home pages for each of the most common species of Cotesia (especially those important economically or otherwise scientifically) with interactive illustrated keys to the species on the Internet. A sample of this work (about 20-25 species) can be found on Mike Sharkey's homepage. The keys and pages will ultimately be linked to a molecular phylogeny of the species (Michel-Salzat & Whitfield, 2004).

Revision of New World Microplitis wasps ( J. B. Whitfield with A. Penteado-Dias, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil; A. D. Austin, University of Adelaide; funded by U.S.D.A. NRI Program) - This project seeks to produce a comprehensive reclassification of the New World species Microplitis wasps, which parasitize a broad range of mostly larger Lepidoptera and are often of economic importance in agricultural systems. The nearctic fauna is mostly known, with about 35 named species and 5-6 new, but our study is producing the first fully illustrated key to many common species. The neotropical fauna, on the other hand, is at least 75% undescribed, and being revised for the first time. Click here to visit our Microplitis image database.

Systematics and evolution of Apanteles from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) (J. Rodriguez) - Apanteles are one of the most common parasitoids reared by the ongoing “Caterpillar and parasitoid inventory of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG) in northwest Costa Rica” led by D.H. Janzen and W. Hallwachs. Detailed studies of genitalic morphology are being combined with host relationships, DNA barcoding and mulitigene molecular phylogenetics to obtain a more accurate picture of the species-level diversity and host specificity of these hyperdiverse wasps. Whitfield Lab in Costa Rica - Area de Conservación Guanacaste - Picture Gallery

Revision of the Costa Rican species of the genus Heterospilus (Paul Marsh, with the Whitfield Lab) – This project, funded by NSF’s RevSys program, aims to monograph the several hundred Heterospilus species of Costa Rica and surrounding countries, and couple this with a multigene phylogenetic analysis of the genus as a whole to produce a rough species-group classification.  A postdoctoral associate will be involved in databasing the species and their morphology, and producing online interactive identification keys.