Molecular Phylogeny of Membracoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera): A Test of Alternative Evolutionary Scenarios

9726282膜总科的Dietrich分子系统学(昆虫纲：半翅目)：由25,000多个描述物种组成的另类进化情景的测试，膜总科(叶蝉和树蝉)是高度多样化和成功的植物食性昆虫谱系。相互冲突的基于形态的系统发育关系假说阻碍了人们试图理解各种独特的生态和行为特征(例如，蚂蚁互惠、父母照顾、涂抹行为)的进化起源，以及这些特征的获得或丧失在群体多样性中所起的可能作用。这个项目将通过增加大样本叶蝉和树蝉的核糖体(28S)和蛋白质编码(延伸因子L-α)基因序列的特征，提高膜状科群分类群之间的系统发育关系的分辨率。对这些数据的分析将解决一些长期存在的问题，包括：(1)树蝉最初的分化是与丧失跳跃能力和获得无柄、神秘的幼虫阶段相一致，还是这些保留了祖先的特征T；(2)树蝉是像基于形态的系统发育所暗示的那样在冈瓦纳物种分裂之前出现的，还是像化石记录所暗示的那样在南美洲大陆孤立之后出现的？(3)栖息地、寄主和/或取食方式的变化是否促进了某些叶蝉和树蝉群体的多样性？以及(4)蚂蚁互助和守蛋行为是在几个不同的谱系中独立获得的吗？

9726282 Dietrich Molecular Phylogeny of Membracoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera): A Test of Alternative Evolutionary Scenarios Comprising over 25,000 described species, the Membracoidea (leafhoppers and treehoppers) are a highly diverse and successful lineage of plant-feeding insects. Conflicting morphology-based hypotheses of phylogenetic relationship have hindered attempts to understand the evolutionary origins of various unique ecological and behavioral characteristics (e.g., ant-mutualism, parental care, anointing behavior) and the possible roles that the acquisition or loss of such traits played in the diversification of the group. This project will provide increased resolution of the phylogenetic relationships among membracoid family-group taxa by adding characters from nuclear ribosomal (28S) and protein-coding (elongation factor l-alpha) gene sequences for a large sample of leafhopper and treehopper species. Analyses of these data will address a number of long-standing questions, including: (1) Did the initial divergence of treehoppers coincide with the loss ofjumping ability and acquisition of a sessile, cryptic juvenile stage, or are these retained ancestral characteristicsT; (2) Did treehoppers arise prior to the break-up of Gondwana, as implied by one morphology-based phylogeny, or did this lineage arise in South America after the isolation of that continent, as implied by the fossil record?; (3) Did shifts in habitat, host, and/or feeding stragegy promote the diversification of certain leafhopper and treehopper groups?; and (4) Were ant mutualism and egg-guarding behavior acquired independently in several different lineages?