Dissertation Research: A Subgeneric Revision of the Genus Nomada (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae)

博士生拜伦·亚历山大 (Byron Alexander) 提议利用文献、博物馆参观和借来的藏品中的形态数据来研究 Nomada 蜜蜂属的祖先-后代关系。他的导师乔治·艾克沃特 (George Eickwort) 是社会性昆虫方面的领先研究员。该属的社会行为和寄生行为都是从筑巢祖先进化而来的，目前尚不清楚：1）社会物种是该属内的一个单独的进化分支，还是2）社会行为已经独立进化了多次。该群体的完善的进化框架将为评估这些替代方案提供手段。行为的进化是生物学的一个重要方面，某些昆虫（例如蜜蜂）的行为可能具有重要的经济影响。拟议的研究可能会对研究该分类单元的小型专家群体产生重大影响。

Doctoral student Byron Alexander proposes to study the ancestor-descendant relationships within the bee genus Nomada, using morphological data from the literature, museum visits, and from borrowed collections. His advisor, George Eickwort, is a leading researcher on social insects. Both social and parasitic behavior have evolved from nest-building ancestors in this genus, and it is unclear whether 1) the social species are a separate evolutionary branch within the genus, or 2) social behavior has evolved independently several times. A well-established evolutionary framework for this group would provide the means for assessing these alternatives. The evolution of behavior is an important facet of biology, and behavior of certain insects such as bees can have important economic implications. The proposed research can have subtantial impact beyond the small community of specialists working on this taxon.