Systematics and Mechanisms of Speciation in Mites

许多种类的螨虫和昆虫，包括许多农作物和牲畜的害虫，只以一种植物或动物或几种密切相关的植物或动物为食。有时，基因变化，包括新物种的产生，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。这项拟议的工作将调查一组以特定植物为食的螨虫物种是如何从以不同种类植物为食的祖先起源的。此外，为什么这些螨虫的摄食习惯如此特殊的问题也将被研究。由于对这类螨虫的生态学和行为已经有了大量的了解，对它们的遗传历史进行研究可能对我们理解螨虫和昆虫是如何形成它们的捕食习惯的基本原理，以及这些习惯是如何改变的，特别有价值。

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.