New Records of Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Starry, Aiden

ABSTRACT: The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ABTI) of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) is an initiative devoted to cataloging every kind of life present in the park. Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) are a diverse taxon of spider ectoparasitoids whose presence significantly impacts numerous ecosystem services. To document the diversity of spider wasps from GSMNP, specimens collected in the park over the past three decades were sent to Union University, sorted to morphospecies, and DNA barcoded. Barcoding mitigates the challenges associated with identifying specimens from diverse taxa by relying on molecular characters instead of solely morphological characters. In total, 190 specimens representing 70 species were barcoded, resulting in 176 sequences useful for species identification (.200 bp in length). One new genus record (Anoplochares) and nine potential new species records (Ageniella obscura delicata, Anoplius illinoensis, A.lepidus, Arachnospila arcta, Auplopus caerulescens, Entypus magnus, Evagetes parvus, E. proximus, and Minagenia osoria) are added to the ATBI pending morphological verification. Barcoding also revealed cryptic genetic diversity within several species (Aporus niger, Psorthaspis mariae, and Ceropales longipes) that may indicate the presence of undescribed species in the park. These results contribute significantly to the ATBI by adding new park records for an understudied taxon and demonstrate the effectiveness of using DNA barcoding to identify spider wasp species.