Molecular Analysis of Phylogenetic Relationships Among the Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera)

一个多世纪以来，蝶科这个大家族在生物学的各个研究领域都发挥着重要的作用。然而，使用来自形态的数据来阐明该群体的进化史的努力遇到了挫折；现有形态系统发育的共识产生了几乎完全缺乏解决的结果。这个项目将通过对取自独立的线粒体和核基因区域的DNA序列的特征分析来研究若虫科的分支关系。分类群调查将包括所有若虫部落(72属)的代表。这与多种遗传标记的使用相结合，有望提供以前的形态或分子研究所不具备的分辨率。系统发育的结果将作为检验众所周知的进化假说的框架，这些假说包括拟态、食草动物-寄主植物的共同进化和不适口性的进化。蝴蝶科包含了一些在昆虫世界中最著名的物种，包括我们的国虫帝王蝶，以及热带动物中著名的成员，如西番蝶和美丽的Morpho蝴蝶。像Morpho这样的物种目前是密集保护研究的重点，这是拯救地球生物多样性的紧急努力的一部分。该项目将对蝶科中具有代表性的蝴蝶物种的DNA分子进行测序，并使用获得的分子数据来制作系统发育图或描述这些物种之间的关系。然后，这一系统发育将使研究人员能够解决关于这些昆虫的拟态和寄主植物联系等其他问题或理论。

The large butterfly family Nymphalidae has been fundamentally important to diverse research fields in biology for more than a century. However, efforts to elucidate the group's evolutionary history using data from morphology have met with frustration; the consensus of available morphological phylogenies yields an almost total lack of resolution. This project will examine cladistic relationships in the Nymphalidae through character analysis of DNA sequences taken from independent mitochondrial and nuclear gene regions. The survey of taxa will include representatives of all nymphalid tribes (in 72 genera). This, combined with the use of multiple genetic markers, is expected to provide resolution not available from previous morphological or molecular studies. The phylogenetic results will serve as a framework for examining well-known evolutionary hypotheses including mimicry, herbivore- hostplant coevolution, and the evolution of unpalatability. %%% The butterfly family Nymphalidae contains some of the best-known species in the insect world, including the Monarch Butterfly, our national insect, and such conspicuous members of the tropical fauna as the Passion Flower butterflies (Heliconius) and the beautiful Morpho butterflies. Forms such as the Morpho are currently the focus of intense conservation research as part of urgent efforts to save the earth's biodiversity. This project will sequence DNA molecules from representative butterfly species in the family Nymphalidae and use the molecular data obtained to produce a phylogeny or description of relationships among those species. This phylogeny will then allow researchers to address other questions or theories about such things as mimicry and hostplant associations of these insects.