Dissertation Research: Evolution of the True Cutworms (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Inferred from Nuclear Genes

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9623799 MITTER Interactions among contemporary insect species and the plants they feed on are strongly influenced by their shared historical relationships, suggesting an important role for phylogenies (genealogies of species) in explaining patterns of hostplant use. Recent work on the phylogeny of the huge moth family Noctuidae (about 25,000 species), previously poorly understood, indicates that a "true cutworm" lineage may exist, which combines approximately 8,000 species from four traditional subfamilies into a single large subfamily, the Noctuinae. Unlike most other noctuids, Noctuinae typically (though not invariably) possess caterpillars that are "cryptic" (inconspicuously colored, not easy to observe) and feed on non-woody plants. Most often, these caterpillars have broad food plant preferences, and frequently they are pests. In this research, doctoral student Andrew Mitchell, under the direction of Charles Mitter and Jerome Regier, will use the DNA sequences of two nuclear genes to more critically assess the phylogenetic relationships among the insects in the Noctuinae. Mitchell, Mitter and Regier will analyze Elongation Factor-1 alpha (EF-1a) and Dopa Decarboxylase (DDC) DNA sequences from 50 species, representing all major subgroups (tribes and subtribes) within the subfamily, to define the limits of and estimate the relationships among these groups. The phylogeny will then be used to determine when, over the long history of the cutworm moth group, species have adopted different geographic distributions, modes of feeding and diet preferences. In particular, the studies should help determine whether species that share any of these features are closely, or only distantly, related. Knowledge of this basic biology of the cutworm moths may assist efforts to manage pest species.