Systematics and Mechanisms of Speciation in Mites

螨类物种形成的系统学和机制

• 批准号: 8906228
• 负责人: Robert Colwell
• 金额: $ 17.54万
• 依托单位: University of Connecticut
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1989
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1989-11-01 至 1994-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8906228&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Systematics; Mechanisms; Speciation; Mites

Many kinds of mites and insects, including numerous pests of crops and livestock, feed on only a single kind of plant or animal, or a few closely related kinds. Sometimes genetic changes, including the origination of new species, produce a shift in the diet of these mites and insects, creating new pest problems. The proposed work will investigate how a group of mite species that feed on particular plants originated from ancestors that fed on different kinds of plants. In addition, the question of why these mites are so specific in their feeding habits will be studied. Because a great deal is already known about the ecology and behavior of this group of mites, a study of their genetic history is likely to be especially valuable to our understanding of basic principles of how mites and insects become specialized in their feeding habits, and how these habits may change.

许多种类的螨虫和昆虫，包括许多农作物和牲畜的害虫，仅以单一种类的植物或动物或几种密切相关的种类为食。 有时，基因变化，包括新物种的起源，会导致这些螨虫和昆虫的饮食发生变化，从而产生新的害虫问题。 拟议的工作将调查一组以特定植物为食的螨虫物种如何起源于以不同种类植物为食的祖先。 此外，还将研究为什么这些螨虫的饮食习惯如此特殊的问题。 由于人们对这群螨虫的生态和行为已有很多了解，因此对其遗传史的研究可能对于我们了解螨虫和昆虫如何在其摄食习惯上变得专业化以及这些习惯如何改变的基本原理特别有价值。