PEET: Monographic Revision and Phylogenetic Analysis of Athetine Aleocharines (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Athetini)

9978110詹姆斯·阿什（James Ashe）在陆地生物中，甲虫仍然是已知最贫穷的主要动物类群之一，其物种多样性已被确认为数万种，但可能远不止于此。它们的生态意义也很大，特别是Aleocharinae亚科的隐翅虫被认为是世界范围内土壤线虫和其他土壤微型节肢动物的主要捕食者。然而，甲虫分类学知识的贫乏状态阻碍了这些动物的一般分类以及生态学家、资源管理者和其他需要可靠信息和容易获得准确数据的人应用和使用识别键的进展。继续在甲虫系统学方面进行富有成效的研究和培训计划，堪萨斯大学的James Ashe博士及其同事开始在"增强分类学专门知识伙伴关系“（PEET）下开展第二系列项目，其中包括培训至少两名甲虫系统学方面的新分类学专家;编制分类学专著和修订选定的几组漫游甲虫;标本信息、地理分布、形态学数据、图像和插图以及网络可访问格式的识别码的数据库。阿什博士还帮助维护网站，在堪萨斯大学的自然历史博物馆主办的所有国家科学基金会支持的PEET项目。

9978110James Ashe Among terrestrial organisms, the beetles remain one of the poorest known major groups of animals, with species diversity already recognized in the tens of thousands but possibly much greater than that. Their ecological significance is also great, and in particular the staphylinid rove beetles of the subfamily Aleocharinae are thought to be major predators of soil nematodes and other soil microarthropods worldwide. Yet, the poor state of knowledge of beetle taxonomy impedes progress in general classification of these animals and in application and use of identification keys by ecologists, resource managers, and others needing reliable information and ready access to accurate data. Continuing a productive program of research and training in beetle systematics, Dr. James Ashe and colleagues at the University of Kansas embark on a second series of projects under the Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET), which will include training of minimally two new taxonomic experts in beetle systematics; production of taxonomic monographs and revisions of selected groups of rove beetles; and databasing of specimen information, geographic distributions, morphological data, images and illustrations, and identification keys in web-accessible formats. Dr. Ashe also helps maintain the website that hosts all of the NSF-supported PEET projects, at the University of Kansas's Natural History Museum.