DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Building a Robust Classification for March Flies (Diptera: Bibionomorpha: Bibionidae)

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A grant has been awarded to Dr. Darlene Judd and Mr. Scott Fitzgerald to study relationships within the fly family Bibionidae (Diptera: Bibionomorpha), commonly known as March flies or Love Bugs. The goals of this study include defining the familial-level boundaries, identifying families that are closely related, and comparing features across this broad assemblage to erect a classification that reflects natural groups. Exemplar species from all biogeographic regions will be included and morphological characters from larval, pupal, and adult life stages will be analyzed using cladistic methods. The immature stages (larva and pupa) occur in soil and leaf litter and are poorly represented in natural history collections. Fitzgerald's field work will concentrate on obtaining the immature stages of the 60+ species recorded from the western United States and Mexico and he will travel to the B.P. Bishop Museum, Hawaii to study the world's most comprehensive bibionid research collection. Diptera, or "true flies," is arguably the most poorly known of the larger orders of insects and is of considerable medical, agricultural, and biological importance. Flies account for approximately 80% of medically important insects and are the vectors of pathogens that cause diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and west nile. For some time, investigators have agreed that the traditional classification proposed for flies does not reflect natural groups and thus does not provide a predictive framework for storing information and understanding their evolution, morphology, and behavior (e.g. blood feeding). The phylogenetic position of bibionids is unclear. However, they are key to understanding the transition between primitive groups (e.g. mosquitoes) and the advanced groups (e.g. house flies and Drosophila). In addition, some of the larvae are important vegetable and cereal crop pests and a better understanding of their characteristics, life history habits and relationships may provide useful insights into their control.