Taxonomic, Phylogenetic, and Evolutionary Studies of Horse flies (Diptera:Tabanidae): An Integrated Approach to Systematics Training

虻科（虻）包括分布在世界各地的估计4000个现存物种。几乎所有的成年人都是吸血者，但许多人也是重要的花朵授粉者。马蝇的生物学和分类学有着重要的历史遗产，但现代的修订工作已经落后于其他双翅目类群，这是由于马蝇分类学家数量的世代减少和被认为是“困难的”形态学，这通常是许多标准的苍蝇特征相似。目前的分类是严重偏见，以前的工作更好地了解苍蝇组，而许多较小的群体需要解决，以提供更全面的系统发育修订的背景和新的字符可以进行。这项研究将整合现代工具和分类学和系统学的做法，以解决需要更多的关注马蝇生物多样性和分类。该研究团队扩展了一个成功的合作框架，具有专题，系统发育和生物信息学数据生成方面的专业知识，并建立在以前的合作伙伴关系，以提高分类学专业知识（PEET）项目的积极努力。该项目将促进澳大利亚和美国的教师和学生之间在实验室和实地研究方面的合作。将通过与项目直接相关的数据库和网站以及分类工具和项目数据库的整合，向科学家和公众提供工作成果。项目旨在鼓励学员之间的指导和合作。除了他们的分类工作，每个受训者将被要求专门从事三个一般领域之一：生物信息学技术，计算/分析技术，或推广方法。随着他们在这些领域的发展，将期望他们在各自选择的专门知识方面相互指导，并制作通过项目门户网站传播的产品。该项目涉及博士后助理，研究生和本科生的学术培训的强大组成部分。此外，还有一个全面的外展计划，包括将通过项目网站提供的教育材料，以及合作大学为本科生和K-12水平制作的其他几个在线资源，以及通过国家进化综合中心的教育和外展资源。

The fly family Tabanidae (horse flies) includes an estimated 4000 extant species distributed throughout the world. Nearly all are blood-feeders as adults, but many are also important pollinators of flowers. The biology and taxonomy of horse flies has an important historical legacy, but modern revisionary work has lagged behind other dipteran groups due to a generational reduction in the number of horse fly taxonomists and to a perceived "difficult" morphology, which is often similar for many standard fly characters. Current classifications are heavily biased by previous work on better known fly groups, while many smaller groups need to be addressed to provide context and new characters from which more comprehensive phylogenetic revision can proceed. This study will integrate modern tools and practices in taxonomy and systematics to address the need for increased attention to horse fly biodiversity and classification. The research team extends a successful collaborative framework with expertise in monographic, phylogenetic, and bioinformatic data generation, and builds on active efforts initiated by previous Partnership for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET) projects.This project will foster collaboration in laboratory and field studies between faculty and students from Australia and the US. The results of the work will be made available to scientists and the general public via a database and web site directly associated with the project, as well as the integration of taxonomic tools and a project database. Projects are designed to encourage both mentorship and collaboration amongst the student trainees. In addition to their taxonomic work, each trainee will be asked to specialize in one of three general areas: bioinformatics techniques, computational/analytical techniques, or outreach methods. As they develop in these areas, they will be expected to mentor each other in their chosen expertise and to produce products that are disseminated through the projects web portals. The project involves a strong component of academic training for postdoctoral associates, graduate, and undergraduate students. In addition, there is a comprehensive program of outreach, including educational material that will be presented via the project web site and several other online resources for undergraduate and K-12 levels produced by the collaborating universities and through the Education and Outreach resources of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center.