Relationships of Nearctic and Palearctic Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae)

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9629456 ADLER Black flies (Insecta: Diptera: Simuliidae) are an abundant taxon in running water ecosystems, and in recent years they have come to play a prominent role in ecological investigations. Oddly and unfortunately, research on black flies has always been conducted separately in the Nearctic and Palearctic Regions, resulting in independent descriptions and interpretations of faunas and relationships, as well as different classification systems. This research project will address that problem by focusing on a synthesis of the relationships of Nearctic and Palearctic black flies. Specific objectives are to 1) screen Palearctic nominal species of the subgenus Simulium for sibling species, 2) test for conspecificity between selected Nearctic and Palearctic populations, and 3) develop a phylogeny for Nearctic and Palearctic members of the genus Simulium. These objectives will be accomplished by a combined cytogenetic, morphological and ecological analysis of Palearctic black flies and comparisons with Nearctic black flies. Results of this research will provide the first comprehensive analysis of evolutionary relationships of black flies between two zoogeographic regions, reveal unrecognized, hidden species (sibling species), provide a powerful predictive framework for further studies on the biology of the world black flies, and foster international cooperation toward understanding a part of the global biota. This award will support the training of a graduate student in the specialized techniques of cytogenetic methods of study in which Dr. Adler is a pioneering expert for black flies. Black flies, with their severe and painful bites, are well known for their disruptive effects on the use of recreational areas throughout this country; they also transmit both human and animal diseases. Despite these negative attributes, their larvae are also important components of food webs in aquatic ecosystems and they have been utilized as indicators in studies of water quality. This research project will clarify relationships between North American and European species of black flies as a needed background for studies of their biology and advance our knowledge of this aspect of insect biodiversity.