2nd Place: In search of lost types: Adventures in European Platygastrinae (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae)

With the proliferation of DNA-based species descriptions, insect taxonomy finds itself at a divergence point. For poorly understood taxa, morphological and molecular reference systems are not yet linked, resulting in two parallel bodies of knowledge for the same species. Such is the case with Platygastrinae (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), parasitoids of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). The subfamily includes approximately 1900 described species in 39 genera, many of which are in varying states of taxonomic disarray. The “superficial species impediment” in European Platygastrinae is exacerbated by missing historical type specimens, many of which were lost or destroyed during wartime. The present study aims to synchronize morphological and molecular taxonomy by rediscovering lost types, collecting topotypes, and cross-referencing DNA voucher specimens with historically significant platygastrine collections.