DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Phylogeny and Evolution of Host Associations and Fighting Behavior in Neotropical Derelomine Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

康奈尔大学的布莱恩·丹福斯博士和尼科·弗兰兹先生获得了一笔赠款，用于研究新大陆热带地区花卉象甲的进化史及其与棕榈树和其他相关植物的不同相互作用。这项研究的主要目的是促进了解象甲高度专门化行为的进化，包括寄主植物的利用、授粉和捕食种子。这将通过综合各种来源的证据来实现，以便重建该协会内主要象鼻虫群体之间的关系。将在野外拍摄一组特定物种中雄性之间复杂的战斗行为，并根据它们先前研究的战斗结构适应情况进行分析。除了为测试关于这种昆虫-植物相互作用的进化史的各种有趣的假说建立必要的框架外，拟议的研究还具有几个实际意义。花象甲是热带地区数百种棕榈树的主要传粉者，包括非洲油棕榈树和许多其他重要的经济物种，种植这些物种是为了获得纤维、食物、药物、油和装饰品。过去，有控制地引进专门的象甲传粉者已导致作物产量大幅增加。通过为这些象甲种群提供第一个全面的分类和图文并茂的识别检索表，本研究为任何对其寄主植物生物学感兴趣的研究人员随后的实地工作奠定了基础。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Bryan Danforth and Mr. Nico Franz of Cornell University to study the evolutionary history of derelomine flower weevils and their diverse interactions with palms and other related plants in the New World tropics. The principal objective of this research is to facilitate an understanding of the evolution of highly specialized behaviors in the weevils, including host plant use, pollination, and seed predation. It will be achieved by synthesizing evidence from a variety of sources in order to reconstruct the relationships among the major weevil groups within the association. The complex fighting behaviors among the males in one particular group of species will be filmed in the field and analyzed in the light of their previously studied structural adaptations for fighting.In addition to establishing the necessary framework for tests of various intriguing hypotheses about the evolutionary history of this insect-plant interaction, the proposed research has several practical implications. Derelomine flower weevils are the primary pollinators of hundreds of palms throughout the tropics, including the African oil palm and many other economically important species that are cultivated for fiber, food, medicine, oil, and ornament. Controlled introductions of specialized weevil pollinators have resulted in substantial increments in crop production in the past. By providing the first comprehensive classification and illustrated identification keys for these weevil groups, the present study constitutes the basis for subsequent field work by any researcher interested in the biology of their host plants.