DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Systematics and Color Mimicry Evolution of Cyanide-producing Millipedes of Appalachia (Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae, Apheloriini)

东卡罗来纳大学的Jason E.Bond博士和Paul E.Marek先生获得了一笔资金，以加强、改进和支持ECO-Pi的学位论文项目--一项关于分布在阿巴拉契亚山脉的千足类部落Apheloriini(双足目：多足纲)的分类学和进化研究。无融合(警示颜色)和颜色模仿是阿巴拉契亚千足虫属Brachoria最显著的特征之一。这一属中的个体与其他几个亲缘关系密切的同域属显示出强烈的颜色和图案相似性。这些千足虫为研究拟态进化提供了一个极好的系统。然而，到目前为止，由于缺乏一个健全的分类结构和粗壮的系统发育，对这个千足类种群的拟态和其他有趣的进化问题的研究一直受到阻碍。该项目将提供：(1)基于系统发育的Apheloriini分类系统；(2)对Brachoria Aheloriinegenus Brachoria的系统修订，其中将包括重建进化关系、新物种描述和对现有分类群的重新描述、记录地理分布和自然历史，以及制作便于识别的检索表；(3)对Brachoria中的替代模仿情景进行假设驱动的测试。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Jason E. Bond and Mr. Paul E.Marek of East Carolina University to enhance, improve, and support theco-PI's dissertation project - a taxonomic and evolutionary study of themillipede tribe Apheloriini (Diplopoda: Polydesmida) distributedthroughout the Appalachian Mountains. Aposematism (warning coloration)and color mimicry are among the most striking features of theAppalachian millipede genus Brachoria. Individuals in this genusdisplay strong color and pattern similarity with several other closelyrelated sympatric genera. These millipedes provide an excellent system for studyingmimicry evolution. However, until now investigating mimicry and otherinteresting evolutionary questions in this millipede group has beenhindered by the absence of a sound taxonomic structure and a robustphylogeny. This project will provide: (1) a phylogeny-basedclassification system of Apheloriini; (2) a systematic revision of the apheloriinegenus Brachoria that will include a reconstruction of evolutionary relationships, new species descriptions and redescriptions of existing taxa, documentation ofgeographical distributions and natural histories, and production ofeasy-to-use keys for identification; and (3) a hypothesis-driven test ofalternative mimicry scenarios in Brachoria.