Aubrey M. Colvin
Major Professor: Dr. Robert Wharton
M.S. Candidate
"Rank Has Its Privileges: A Taxonomic Revision of Metopius (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)."
Clarity of definition is the goal of many taxonomic revisions. There has been significant shuffiing of both taxonomic names and their rank within the Linnaean classification with the intent of improving the classification of a particular group of organisms. The family Ichneumonidae is one of the largest within the Invertebrata and, due to its substantial size, has gone through many changes in classification. Recent examination of the Costa Rican ichneumonid fauna brought into question the validity of the use of subgenera within the genus Metopius. A morphological analysis of the subgenera will be performed to assess if these subgenera, as currently defined, represent stable monophyletic groupings.