Dissertation Research: Phylogenetic Reconstruction of the Simuliidae (Diptera: Culicomorpha) using Mitochondrial DNA

9520613麦迪逊姬蜂科黑蝇是一大群双翅目昆虫，分布在世界各地，但最臭名昭著的是非洲和美洲热带地区，那里的各种物种携带丝虫寄生虫，导致河盲症和其他疾病。许多物种和属的分类学和系统发育关系知之甚少，多年来提出的相互矛盾的分类阻碍了有效的控制策略。研究生约翰·莫尔顿在亚利桑那大学教职顾问大卫·麦迪森教授的指导下，正在分析从世界各地收集的大量拟态黑蝇的线粒体DNA突变差异。这些分子差异将被用来构建蜻蜓科各属和部落之间的进化联系方案，然后将这些关系与已知的类群的形态特征进行比较和检验。黑蝇提出了关于生物地理学和特征进化的有趣的科学问题，这些问题抵抗了成功的攻击，因为到目前为止，它们的分类和鉴定采用了相互矛盾的分类法。加拿大昆虫学家柯里最近的形态学工作现在为比较和对比DNA序列分析的新分子数据提供了一个可靠的框架。这两种方法的结合应该会带来对黑蝇进化和扩散的强有力的系统学理解，包括那些携带病媒的黑蝇。

9520613 Maddison The Simuliidae black flies are a large group of dipterans occurring worldwide, but most notorious in the African and American tropics where various species carry filarial parasites causing river blindness and other diseases. The taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships of the numerous species and genera are poorly understood, and the conflicting classifications proposed over the years hinder effective control strategies. Graduate student John Moulton, under the supervision of faculty adviser Prof. David Maddison at the University of Arizona, is analyzing mutational differences in mitochondrial DNA of numerous taxa of simuliid black flies collected from various parts of the world. The molecular differences will be used to construct a scheme of evolutionary connections among the genera and tribes of Simuliidae, and then these relationships can be compared with and tested against the known morphological features of the groups. Black flies present interesting scientific questions about biogeography and character evolution, questions that have resisted successful attack because of the conflicting taxonomies so far employed for their classification and identification. Recent morphological work by the Canadian entomologist Currie now provides a reliable framework for comparing and contrasting new molecular data from DNA sequence analyses. The integration of these two approaches should lead to a robust phylogenetic understanding of the evolution and dispersal of black flies, including those harboring disease vectors.