CREATING AN INTERACTIVE AND DICHOTOMOUS KEY TO THE WORLD SUBFAMILIES OF BRACONIDAE

Members of Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) are mostly parasitoids of other holometabolous insects. It is a large family with a little over 18,000 described species and many more to be described. Subfamily classification in this group has been unstable and resolution of phylogenetic history at the subfamily level has been problematic. Since 1993, no new keys to the subfamilies of Braconidae have been produced. Many taxonomic and phylogenetic changes have taken place since then, including a recent phylogeny proposing 47 subfamilies and representing the most robust and resolved analysis to date. A pressing need for new keys to the world subfamilies of Braconidae is evident. Using the free programs, DELTA and INTKEY, easy to use keys to the subfamilies of Braconidae, both dichotomous and interactive were produced that will be published and freely available on the Internet. These are constructed for use by professionals and amateurs alike