Revision of New World Platydracus (Coleoptera:Staphylinidae)

新世界侧柏（鞘翅目：葡萄科）的修订

• 批准号: 8906825
• 负责人: Alfred Newton
• 金额: $ 8.9万
• 依托单位: Field Museum of Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1989
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1989-11-15 至 1993-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8906825&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Revision; New; World; Platydracus; Coleoptera

Beetles of the Family Staphylinidae comprise one of the most diverse insect families known. Among the staphylinids, members of the genus Platydracus are large and conspicuous predators on fly larvae and a variety of forest-dwelling invertebrates. As such, they play an important role in the ecology of tropical forests. Dr. Alfred Newton proposes completion of a taxonomic monograph of the New World representatives of the genus, including description of 70 new species and production of an identification key. Evolutionary relationships will be reconstructed using cladistic analysis, and the geographic distribution of species will be compared to their evolutionary relatedness. The proposed monograph will find a wide and keenly interested audience among forest ecologists, systematic and economic entomologists, biogeographers, and evolutionary biologists. Specifically, ecologists will use the monograph as an identification guide in their studies of community structure; entomologists may want to pursue possible natural control mechanisms within the genus, biogeographers will use the group as a further test of the Pleistocene refugium hypothesis, and evolutionary biologists will use the monograph as a platform on which to study the evolution of ecological specializations.

葡萄球菌科甲虫是已知最多样化的昆虫科之一。 在葡萄球菌科中，侧柏属的成员是大型且引人注目的捕食者，捕食苍蝇幼虫和各种森林栖息的无脊椎动物。 因此，它们在热带森林的生态中发挥着重要作用。 Alfred Newton 博士提议完成新世界该属代表的分类学专着，包括描述 70 个新物种并制作识别码。 将使用分支分析重建进化关系，并将物种的地理分布与其进化相关性进行比较。 拟议的专着将在森林生态学家、系统和经济昆虫学家、生物地理学家和进化生物学家中找到广泛且感兴趣的读者。 具体来说，生态学家将在群落结构研究中使用该专着作为识别指南； 昆虫学家可能希望探索该属内可能的自然控制机制，生物地理学家将利用该类群作为更新世避难所假说的进一步检验，而进化生物学家将使用该专着作为研究生态专业化进化的平台。