Dissertation Research: Systematics and Morphology of Metalmark Moths (Lepidoptera: Choreutidae)

舞蹈科的成员通常被称为金属标记飞蛾，因为它们的翅膀上有金属标记，是一个鲜为人知的小鳞翅目群体。目前在世界范围内已被描述的舞蹈病有400种，其中热带地区的舞蹈病种类最为丰富。使用广泛的方法，这个项目将解决一些关于这个群体的许多悬而未决的问题。我们将采用分子和形态学技术来解决家族内的系统发育关系，并推断其他白土目鳞翅目之间的舞蹈病亲属。利用一个线粒体（细胞色素氧化酶I）和两个核基因（延伸因子1- α和无翼），并仔细检查了成年和未成熟阶段的许多形态结构，我们将使用最大简约、最大似然和贝叶斯推理构建系统发育树。由此产生的树将用于改进当前的舞蹈分类，以便命名的分类群基于自然群。它们还将用于研究舞蹈形态的进化，寄主植物的使用，行为和生活史参数。利用扫描电子显微镜，对尚未描述的六个舞蹈病属未成熟阶段的超微结构进行详细的形态学检查，并通过这项工作，阐明以前未知的形态结构。将描述来自新热带的舞蹈病的新种和新属。这个科还有更多的物种有待发现——在中美洲收集到的舞蹈病中，超过40%是科学上的新物种。今天，在一个灭绝危机的时代，迫切需要对热带生态系统的分类群进行系统的研究。通过这个项目，有关这些濒危生物的生活信息将被记录下来，并通过为舞蹈科开发的网站随时提供给每个人。

The family Choreutidae, members of which are commonly known as metalmark moths because of metallic markings on their wings, is a poorly known microlepidopteran group. Choreutids, with 400 currently described species worldwide, are most diverse in the world's tropics. Using a broad range of methods, this project will address some of the numerous unanswered questions about this group. We will employ molecular and morphological techniques to resolve the phylogenetic relationships within the family and infer choreutid relatives among other Ditrysian Lepidoptera. With one mitochondrial (cytochrome oxydase I) and two nuclear genes (elongation factor 1-alpha and wingless) and careful examination of a number of morphological structures, from both adult and immature stages, we will construct phylogenetic trees using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. The resulting trees will be used to improve the current classification of choreutids so that the named taxa are based on natural groups. They will also be used for the study of the evolution of choreutid morphology, host plant usage, behavior, and life history parameters. Using scanning electron microscopy, a detailed morphological examination of the ultrastructure of immature stages of six choreutid genera that have not yet been described will be done and with that work, previously unknown morphological structures will be illustrated. New species will be described, as well as a new genus, of choreutids from the Neotropics. The family has many more species left to be discovered - over 40% of choreutids that were collected in Central America are new to science. Today, in the age of an extinction crisis, there is an urgent need for systematic work on taxa from tropical ecosystems. With this project, information about the life of these imperiled biotas will be recorded and made readily available to everyone through a website developed for the family Choreutidae.