PEET: Building Taxonomic Expertise in Cucujoidea: Monographic and Phylogenetic Studies of the Cerylonid Beetles

甲虫的多样性是地球上生命的一个显著方面。生命之树上的甲虫分支在形态、发育、生理、行为、生态等方面表现出令人难以置信的变化，这种多样性反映在惊人的物种数量上。然而，甲虫的大量多样性仍然是未知的。研究人员估计，现存的甲虫种类在100万到1000万种之间，但只有大约35万种被发现并被正式描述。甲虫超科Cucujoidea由32科组成，这些科长期未被充分研究，处于分类学发展的前沿阶段。一些瓜类是经济上重要的食草动物（如蜥蜴甲虫），储藏产品害虫（如谷物甲虫）或害虫的捕食者（如瓢虫）。然而，大多数是与真菌和腐烂的植物密切相关的小型隐蔽甲虫，使它们成为健康的陆地生态系统的重要组成部分。佐治亚大学和杨百翰大学实验室之间的一项合作研究和培训项目将召集一批优秀的研究生和一支具有互补技能和机构资源的国际研究团队，对Cucujoidea亚群Cerylonid系列中的几个谱系进行全球分类处理。系统发育分析将使用形态学和分子数据来形成这些群体自然和稳定分类的基础。该项目将提供有关这些甲虫的生物学和未成熟发育阶段的新信息。将研究瓜类谱系的进化转变，包括营养转变（植物吞噬，真菌吞噬，寄生，捕食），共同进化（例如，与内共生酵母菌），以及探究，群居和警告的起源。该项目将在乔治亚大学和杨百翰大学创建一个有指导的学习环境，以培养两名博士后、四名研究生和十名本科生学习现代系统方法，其总体目标是加强瓜类甲虫系统的分类资源和专业知识。发表的结果将在科学期刊上传播，并通过现代技术的应用，包括可上网的电子识别密钥、标本数字图像库、稀有分类文献的数字复制、电子物种分布图、命名数据库、与地理信息系统兼容的标本数据交互式数据库等。博物馆将通过项目参与者的管理和通过实地工作产生的新材料来增加馆藏，从而增加瓜类分类群的馆藏。该项目将利用PI及其赞助机构的优势，为本科生和研究生提供无与伦比的教育和研究经验，并与世界各地著名的分类学专家合作提供密切的互动。当项目目标实现时，由于已发表的分类产品的直接影响，以及分类专业知识的注入将产生的长期影响，甲虫多样性的大量和困难的部分将变得更容易获得。

Beetle diversity is a remarkable aspect of life on Earth. The beetle branch on the Tree of Life exhibits incredible variation in morphology, development, physiology, behavior, ecology, etc., and this diversity is reflected by an astounding number of species. A vast amount of beetle diversity, however, remains unknown. Researchers estimate that there are between one and ten million extant beetle species, but only about 350,000 have been discovered and formally described. The beetle superfamily Cucujoidea is comprised of 32 families that have been chronically understudied and remain in the frontier stage of taxonomic development. Some cucujoids are economically significant herbivores (e.g., lizard beetles), stored product pests (e.g., grain beetles) or predators of pest insects (e.g., ladybugs). Most, however, are small, cryptic beetles that are closely associated with fungi and decaying plant matter, making them important components in healthy terrestrial ecosystems. A collaborative research and training project between laboratories at the University of Georgia and Brigham Young University will assemble a group of outstanding graduate students and an international team of researchers with complementary skills and institutional resources to produce worldwide taxonomic treatments of several lineages within the Cerylonid Series, a subgroup of Cucujoidea. Phylogenetic analyses will be conducted using morphological and molecular data to form the basis for a natural and stable classification of these groups. The project will provide new information about the biology and immature developmental stages of these beetles. Evolutionary transitions in the cucujoid lineage will be examined, including trophic shifts (phytophagy, mycophagy, parasitism, predation), coevolution (e.g., with endosymbiotic yeasts), and the origins of inquiliny, gregariousness, and aposematism.The project will create a mentored learning environment at the University of Georgia and Brigham Young University for the training of two postdocs, four graduate students, and ten undergraduates in modern systematic methods, with an overall goal of enhancing taxonomic resources and expertise in cucujoid beetle systematics. The published results will be disseminated in scientific journals and through applications of modern technology, including Internet-accessible electronic identification keys, digital image galleries of specimens, digital reproductions of rare taxonomic literature, electronic species distribution maps, nomenclatorial databases, interactive databases of GIS-compatible specimen data, etc. Museum holdings of cucujoid taxa will be enhanced through curation by project participants and by augmentation of holdings with new material that will be generated through fieldwork. This project will provide undergraduate and graduate students with an unsurpassed educational and research experience by taking advantage of the strengths of the PI's and their sponsoring institutions, and by providing close interactions with renowned taxonomic expert collaborators around the world. When the project objectives are met, a large and difficult slice of beetle diversity will become more accessible due to the immediate impact of the published taxonomic products, as well as the long-term impact that the infusion of taxonomic expertise will create.