Systematics of Parasitoid Wasps
One of my primary research interests is the systematics, taxonomy, and classification of parasitoid wasps, with a particular emphasis on Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea), a hyperdiverse family with approximately 25,000 described species and an estimated 100,000 species yet to be described.
My taxonomic work has mainly focused on the subfamily Ichneumoninae, the largest within Ichneumonidae, where I have described several new species. My expertise extends across the entire family and even to related groups, such as Braconidae, allowing me to contribute broadly to parasitoid wasp systematics.
My research includes the description of new species, revisions of key genera, and the development of comprehensive resources such as the World Ichneumonidae Database (WID), which provides researchers worldwide with essential tools for studying the evolution, ecology, and diversity of these ecologically important insects.
Recently, I have investigated the evolution of key trait syndromes in Ichneumonidae and produced a phylogeny combining genomic data and Sanger sequences (Dal Pos & Sharanowski, 2024). I am currently working on the first calibrated phylogeny of the group, aimed at identifying major shifts in morphological evolution.
Ichneumonidae at a glance
Described species~25,000
Estimated total species~100,000
Subfamilies42+
Focus of my workIchneumoninae
Relevant Publications
- Dal Pos, D. (2017). First record of Ibalia jakowlewi, Jacobson, 1899, and of the subgenus Tremibalia for Italy (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea, Ibaliidae). Bollettino del Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia, 68 , 53-57.
- Dal Pos, D. (2017). First records of the parasitoid wasp genus Saotis Forster, 1869 for Italy (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ctenopelmatinae, Mesoleiini). Bollettino del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Venezia, 68 , 59-62.
- Dal Pos, D. & Turrisi, F. (2017). Rediscovery and redescription of the holotype of Stephanus (Distephanus) [sic!] athesinus Biegeleben, 1929, with comments on its identity and new distributional data for Megischus anomalipes (Förster, 1855) (Hymenoptera, Stephanidae). Lavori - Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali, 42 , 5-14.
- Dal Pos, D. (2017). Zombrus bicolor (Enderlein, 1912): evidence of its establishment in Italy (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae). Onychium, 13 , 39-43.
- Dal Pos, D. & Rousse, P. (2018). First record of the genus Genaemirum (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae) from West Africa, with the description of a new species from Guinea. European Journal of Taxonomy, (473), 1-11. doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2018.473
- Klopfstein, S., Santos, B. F., Shaw, M. R., Alvarado, M., Bennett, A. M. R., Dal Pos, D., Giannotta, M., Herrera Florez, A. F., Karlsson, D., Khalaim, A. I., Lima, A. R., Mikó, I., Sääksjärvi, I. E., Shimizu, S., Spasojevic, T., van Noort, S., Vilhelmsen, L. & Broad, G. R. (2019). Darwin wasps: a new name heralds renewed efforts to unravel the evolutionary history of Ichneumonidae. Entomological Communications, 1 ( ec010), 1-4. doi.org/10.37486/2675-1305.ec01006
- Riedel, M. & Dal Pos, D. (2019). Contribution to the Afrotropical Ichneumoninae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from Gabon and Sierra Leone, with description of five new species and two new subspecies. Linzer biologische Beitrage, 51 ( 1), 419-436.
- Dal Pos, D., Heilman, V. & Welter-Schultes, F. (2022). Platylabini (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae) of the south-eastern United States: new distributional data, taxonomic notes, illustrated keys, and an annotated catalogue of the genera and species. Journal of Natural History, 56 (45-48), 1869-1938. doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2022.2134061
- Zamani, A., Dal Pos, D., Fric, Z. F., Orfinger, A. B., Scherz, M. D., Bartoňová, A. S. & Gante, H. F. (2022). The future of zoological taxonomy is integrative, not minimalist. Systematics and Biodiversity, 20 (1), 1-14. doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2063964
- Zamani, A., Fric, Z. F., Gante, H. F., Hopkins, T., Orfinger, A. B., Scherz, M. D., Bartoňová, A. S. & Dal Pos, D. (2022). DNA barcodes on their own are not enough to describe a species. Systematic Entomology, 20 (1), 1-14. doi.org/10.1111/syen.12538
- Claridge, B. & Dal Pos, D. (2024). Revision of Nearctic Eparces (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae): description Eparces australis Claridge & Dal Pos sp. nov., nomenclatural notes, and new records of Eparces quadriceps (Cresson, 1867). Zootaxa, 5453 (4), 549-557. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5453.4.5
- Dal Pos, D., Broad, G. R. & Martens, A. P. (2024). Small jewels: two new species of the rare genus Masona van Achterberg (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea, Braconidae), with a catalogue of world species and comments on the peculiar morphology of the genus. European Journal of Taxonomy, 925 , 135-160. doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.925.2457
- Dal Pos, D., De Ketelaere, A. & Di Giovanni, F. (2024). Revision of the Afrotropical genus Protoleptops Heinrich, 1967 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae), with description of a new species from Burundi. Zookeys, 1214 , 197-216. doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1214.131071
- Yang, X., Huang, Z., Dal Pos, D., Reshchikov, A. & Xiao, W. (2024). A new record of Coelichneumon rufofemoratus (Cameron, 1903) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Eastern Himalayas, with a checklist of all the species of the genus from the Oriental region. Journal of Insect Biodiversity, 50 (2), 32-50. doi.org/10.12976/jib/2024.50.2.1
- Araujo, R. O., Fernandes, D. R. R., Dal Pos, D., Di Giovanni, F., Moreira-Muñoz, A. & Pádua, D. G. (2025). Unveiling the secrets of South American Darwin wasps, part I: a comprehensive checklist of the Chilean Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea). Zootaxa, 5631 (1), 1-51. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5631.1.1
- Di Giovanni, F., Dal Pos, D. & Khalaim, A. I. I. (2025). Updated list of Tersilochinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) of Italy. Biodiversity Data Journal, 13 , e139683. doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e139683
- Fang, Z., Hu, W., McCormack, K., Dal Pos, D., Tang, C., Zhu, Y., Mao, K., Stone, G. N. & Zhang, Y. M. (2025). New species of rose gall wasp Diplolepis Geoffroy, 1762 (Hymenoptera: Diplolepididae) and its parasitoid Orthopelma Taschenberg, 1865 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) on a rare endemic rose species in Sichuan, China. Zootaxa, 5706 (2), 231-246. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5706.2.5
- Santos, A. D. d. & Dal Pos, D. (2025). Another needle in the haystack: a new species of the rare genus Masona van Achterberg, 1995 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and updates to the global key. Biologia, 19 , 3069–3078. doi.org/10.1007/s11756-025-02022-2