DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Systematics and evolution of the vampire moths and their fruit-piercing relatives using morphological and molecular data (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Calpinae).

佛罗里达大学获得了一项奖项，以评估吸血蛾的进化关系和摄食习惯的进化。刺穿皮肤和吸血仅限于一组飞蛾。有记录表明，在自然或实验室条件下，有10种甲鱼以血液为食；剩下的种类是必不可少的水果穿孔机。本研究将利用形态学和DNA数据来研究刺果蛾和吸血蛾之间的进化关系。系统发育将检验这些飞蛾的取食方式从穿果到穿皮和吸血的定向进展假设，并确定口器形态是否与取食行为相关。对昆虫行为进化的研究主要集中在交流、交配系统和社会性的进化上。该项目将研究摄食行为的进化，这不仅在一般动物群体中研究得很少，而且可以通过将其作为一种可能在独特的生态、生理和发育约束下进化的新系统，为动物行为的进化提供有价值的见解。本研究的科学成果将包括可在网上访问的原始物种描述、插图和更新的分类。这些信息将对生理学、生态学和进化生物学的教育推广和未来研究有价值。

An award is made to the University of Florida to assess evolutionary relationships and the evolution of feeding habits in vampire moths. Skin piercing and blood feeding are restricted to a single group of moths. Ten Calyptra species have been documented feeding on blood under both natural or laboratory conditions; the remaining species are obligatory fruit piercers. This study will examine the evolutionary relationships between fruit-piercing and blood-feeding moths using morphological and DNA data. The phylogeny will test the hypothesis of a directional progression of feeding types from fruit piercing to skin piercing and blood feeding in these moths and determine whether mouthpart morphology is correlated with feeding behavior. Studies of the evolution of behavior in insects have primarily focused on the evolution of communication, mating systems and sociality. This project will examine the evolution of feeding behavior, which is not only poorly studied across animal groups in general, but could provide valuable insights into the evolution of animal behavior through its use as a new and novel system that likely evolved under unique ecological, physiological and developmental constraints. Scientific products of this study will include web-accessible original species descriptions, illustrations, and an updated classification. This information will be valuable for educational outreach and future studies in physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.