Brandon Claridge (site author)
As a PhD graduate in ichneumonid systematics from Utah State University, my dissertation research was focused on using morphology and Ultraconserved Elements phylogenomics to better understand species delimitation and morphological evolution in ichneumonid wasps and to improve their classification to better reflect evolutionary history.
I am also broadly interested in novel taxonomic approaches, such as computer vision and web development. In particular, I hope to increase non-specialist and citizen science involvement in ichneumonid research by making identifications tractable and facilitating broader access to the taxonomic knowledge.
My long term taxonomic interests are in revising the Ichneumoninae of western North America, where about 25% of the species have been described, and the Neotropics (Central and South America), where at most 10% of the species have been described.
Publications
- Claridge, B., Helcoski, R., Wahl, D.B., & Pitts, J. (2024). Review of the parasitoid wasp genus Cratichneumon Thomson (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Arizona's Sky Islands, with descriptions of eleven new species. Western North American Naturalist, 84(3), 269–319. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/vol84/iss3/1/ article download
- Landers, E., Claridge, B. , Kuhn, W., Seymour, V., Peek, H., Fluet, S., Ramgren, J., Phelps, J., Paulk, B., Cordner, L., & Blaschke, J. (2024). Using DNA barcoding to identify high-priority taxa (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Great Smokey Mountains National Park . Environmental Entomology, nvae058. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvae058
- Claridge, B., & Dal Pos, D. (2024). Revision of Nearctic Eparces (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae): description of Eparces australis Claridge & Dal Pos sp. nov., nomenclatural notes, and new records of Eparces quadriceps (Cresson, 1867). Zootaxa, 5453(4), 549–557. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5453.4.5
- Claridge, B. (2024). Review of the Costa Rican Saltagenes Diller, 1995 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae: Phaeogenini) with descriptions of seven new species. Zootaxa, 5405(1), 93–115. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5405.1.4s
- Claridge, B.R., Kaunisto, K.M., & Sääksjärvi, I.E. (2023). Capitojoppa, a new genus of Ichneumoninae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from Peruvian Amazonia. Zookeys, 1178, 69–76. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1178.108929
- Mathou, A., Wahl, D.B., Quentel, U., Claridge, B., & Santos, B.F. (2023). Sexual dimorphism in ichneumonine parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae) and the neglected influence of the ecological niche. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, blad036. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blad036
- Dal Pos, D., Claridge, B., Diller, E., Van Noort, S., & Di Giovanni, F. (2023). Still counting: new records, nomenclatural notes, and three new species of Phaeogenini (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae) from the Afrotropical region. European Journal of Taxonomy, 868, 1–71. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.868.2105
- Claridge, B. (2021). Revision of the genus Jethsura Cameron, 1902 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae: Phaeogenini). Zootaxa, 5071(2), 223–241. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5071.2.3
- Claridge, B. (2021). Revision of Nearctic Heterischnus Wesmael, 1859 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae, Phaeogenini). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 85, 57–79. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.85.67792
