Faunistic Survey of the Dynastinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize

这个项目研究墨西哥、危地马拉和伯利兹的金龟子。它将提供这些国家dynastines的分类，地理和时间分布的第一个广泛的文件，并将成为第一个研究提供一种方法来识别这个亚科的所有物种。将调查美国博物馆和研究区域的收藏品，以收集与这些标本相关的数据，并将进行广泛的收集，以获得新的信息，很可能是许多新物种。将在所有三个国家的机构建立经主管部门确定的收藏。这项研究将有助于开发用于组织和获取昆虫知识的计算机程序，这将为未来的生物调查提供资源。结果将包括一本关于墨西哥，危地马拉和伯利兹的Dynastinae的插图专著，其中包括对这三个国家的介绍，所有物种的识别关键字和详细的物种帐户（全部用英语和西班牙语）。分类学专著是比较生物学的基石。这本专著的用户将包括科学家与dynastines，生态学家，公园和保护区管理人员需要知道他们管理的地区的动物群组成。研究区域生物丰富，但它也是一个土地利用日益密集的地区，原始地区正在屈服于开发。 发展中国家管理资源的第一步是确定动物群。该项目的其他成果将是培训一名博士生，并培训研究领域的策展人和学生，这反过来将促进其研究收藏的保护和利用。

This project studies the dynastine scarab beetles of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. It will provide the first extensive documentation of the taxonomic, geographic, and temporal distribution of dynastines in these countries and will become the first study to provide a means to identify all species of this subfamily. Collections in museums in the United States and the study area will be surveyed to gather data associated with those specimens, and extensive collecting will be conducted to acquire new information and most likely many new species. Authoritatively identified collections will be established at institutions in all three countries. The research will contribute to the development of computer programs for organizing and accessing knowledge about insects and this will provide a resource for future biotic surveys. Results will include an illustrated monograph on the Dynastinae of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize that includes an introduction to the three countries, identification keys for all species, and detailed species accounts (all in English and Spanish). Taxonomic monographs are cornerstones of comparative biology. Users of this monograph will include scientists working with dynastines, ecologists, and park and reserve managers needing to know the faunal composition of areas they manage. The study area is biologically rich, but it is also an area of increasingly intense land use where pristine areas are succumbing to development. The first step in managing resources in developing countries is identifying the fauna.. Additional products of this project will be the training of a PhD student and training curators and students in the study area that will in turn promote conservation and use of their research collections.