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Complexes of sibling and cryptic species are encountered frequently in parasitic Hymenoptera. Geometric morphometrics is a useful tool to detect minimal morphological variations, which often are undetectable by traditional morphological studies and even by classical morphometric approaches. We applied geometric morphometrics to wing venation to assess a complex case of sibling species in the genus Eubazus (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), parasitoids of conifer bark weevils of the genus Pissodes (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). The results and methods were compared with previous taxonomic studies on the same species, involving classical multivariate morphometrics, isoenzyme analyses, cross-mating experiments and biological observations. Geometric morphometrics confirmed the previous division into four distinct species. However, this approach enabled the four species to be separated simultaneously, with a reliability of 98.6% for well-classified females and 93.1% for males. A similar result in previous studies was obtained only by combining isoenzyme analyses and several canonical variate analyses, including many morphometric characters. Furthermore, measurements of wing venation were less time-consuming, more reliable and required less prior knowledge of braconid taxonomy than the measurements needed for the classical morphometrics methods. Geometric morphometrics was used also to test the effect of host species on wing shape. Several female populations of Eubazus semirugosus originating from three different Pissodes spp. were compared. Significant differences were found in wing shape between conspecific Eubazus from different host species. The results are discussed in relation to reproductive isolation and genetic flow between the four species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parasitoid Hymenoptera contain a large number of species complexes that are as yet unresolved by traditional taxonomic studies. Evolutionary studies as well as biological control programmes often require further investigations which cannot rely on simple qualitative morphological characters; in many cases, particularly with dried specimens housed in museums, molecular approaches cannot be used. Recent developments in geometric morphometrics and statistical exploratory approaches open new perspectives for the objective evaluation of morphological characters in this taxonomic context. In this study, geometric morphometrics and pattern recognition approaches were applied to the wing shape and venation of two closely related braconid species considered to differ by subtle qualitative morphological head characters. Exploratory analyses such as kernel density estimates and Gaussian mixture analyses were used to explore the structure of the data in the multivariate morphometric space. Discrimination techniques (linear discriminant functions and neural networks combined with cross-validations) were used to estimate the taxonomic value of qualitative characters. Gaussian mixtures highlighted the existence of two non-overlapping groups. A good congruence was found between one of the two groups and the a priori defined Bassus tumidulus. The misclassification rate was higher for B. tegularis specimens, which also appeared morphometrically heterogeneous. Discrimination between the two a priori defined species was incomplete with misclassification rates higher than, or equal to, 6%. In most cases, the lack of congruence between species and morphometrically defined subgroups could be related to specimens that exhibited ambiguous qualitative character states. In summary, if two entities are present, they still need to be defined morphologically, while B. tegularis heterogeneity calls for further investigation of specimens of known origin and hosts. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 80, 89–98. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]