Dissertation Research: Systematics, Cladistics, and Biogeography of the Genera of the Abariform Generic Complex (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Pterostichini)

9700764只利勃海尔地面甲虫，属于步甲科和翼手族，通常很大，可能有不寻常的形状和引人注目的颜色。此外，这些甲虫通常非常丰富，作为广义捕食者，它们构成了发现甲虫的生态系统的基本调节组成部分。通过对这些甲虫的研究，已经发展出许多关于系统发育史、生态学和动物行为的一般原理。一组地面甲虫，被归入一组四个属的abariform属复合体，最常见于中美洲和南美洲，具有部落内独有的组合特征(金属颜色、梳状爪子和大眼睛)。这些特征表明，abariform甲虫是一种白天活动的、以视觉为导向的捕食者，这种生活模式在翼甲目中并不常见，它的历史可能与其他类群的昼行甲虫不同。在这项研究中，詹姆斯·利勃海尔和博士生吉卜林·威尔将对abariform属复合体中的物种进行分类修订和系统发育分析。将分析成虫和幼虫的形态特征；将首次调查这些类群的雌性生殖道和幼虫的形态特征。由此产生的关系假说将被用来制定分类，确定这些甲虫的一个谱系或多个谱系中是否出现过死亡现象，并检验试图解释这些甲虫在中南美洲分布的历史生物地理假说。对Pterostichini部落样本的更广泛调查将集中于定义部落的界限、部落内部的属属关系，并在大陆层面测试生物地理模式。

9700764 LIEBHERR Ground beetles, those classified in the family Carabidae and tribe Pterostichini, often are large and may have unusual shapes and striking colors. Moreover, these beetles are often very abundant, and as generalized predators constitute essential regulatory components of ecosystems in which they are found. Numerous general principles of phylogenetic history, ecology and animal behavior have been developed from studies of these beetles. A group of ground beetles, classified in a set of four genera known as the abariform generic complex and most commonly found in Central and South America, share a combination of features (metallic color, pectinate claws, large eyes) that is unique within the tribe. These features suggest that the abariform beetles are diurnal, visually oriented predators, a mode of life, not often found in the Pterostichini, that may have a different history from that of diurnal beetles belonging to other groups. In this research, James Liebherr and doctoral candidate Kipling Will are to conduct a taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis of species in the abariform generic complex. Characters from adult and larval morphology will be analyzed; morphological characters of the female reproductive tract and larvae will be investigated for the first time for these taxa. The resulting hypotheses of relationship will be utilized to develop classifications, to determine whether diurnality has appeared in one lineage of these beetles or in more than one, and to test historical biogeographic hypotheses that try to explain the distribution of these beetles in Central and South America. Broader investigations of exemplars from the tribe Pterostichini will focus on defining the limits of the tribe, generic relationships within the tribe, and testing biogeographic patterns at the continental level.