Studies on Ant Taxonomy and Phylogeny

本项目涉及蚂蚁系统学研究的三个相关领域。(1)物种一级的修订工作将继续进行，修订工作将继续进行，亚科是一个泛热带群体，有300多个物种，其中许多涉及与植物的互惠互利作用。(2)蚂蚁-植物互惠关系的进化将通过与寄主植物相关的假性粘菌素谱系的系统发育和比较生物学研究来检验。(3)蚂蚁亚科之间的系统发育关系将通过全面的特征变异调查和详细的支系分析来进行。拟粘虫蚂蚁的分类和系统发育研究将加深我们对热带蚂蚁这一重要类群的了解，并有助于深入了解蚂蚁-植物共生的起源和维持。蚂蚁亚科系统发育的确凿证据将为蚂蚁生物学的比较研究提供有价值的框架。

This project involves three related areas of research on ant systematics. (1) Species-level revisionary work will continue on the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae, a pantropical group with more than 300 species, many of which are involved in mutualistic interactions with plants. (2) The evolution of ant-plant mutualisms will be examined by phylogenetic and comparative biological studies of pseudomyrmecine lineages associated with domatia-bearing plants. (3) The phylogenetic relationships among the ant subfamilies will be investigated by a comprehensive survey of character variation (in all castes) and a detailed cladistic analysis. The proposed taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of pseudomyrmecine ants will improve our understanding of an important group of tropical ants, and contribute insight into the origin and maintenance of ant-plant symbioses. A well- corroborated phylogeny of the ant subfamilies will provide a valuable framework for comparative studies of ant biology.