The phylogeny and evolution of the "Lower Neoptera" (Insecta)

近年来，人们在重建低等新翅目昆虫的系统发育方面做了大量的工作。尽管如此，他们的关系在很大程度上仍未解决。这一知识差距可能代表了昆虫系统学和进化论上的最大缺陷。“下新翅目”包括11个主要的新翅目昆虫谱系中的9个(不包括螨目和全翅目)：物种丰富的直翅目和双翅目，广义的长翅目，高度专门化的半翅目，内翅目和皮翅目，以及微小多样性的灰翅目、腹翅目和斑翅目。对所有这些群体的形态知识都非常零碎和肤浅。我们的项目旨在为精心选择的分类单元样本编制一个广泛的形态数据集，重点放在推定的关键分类单元上。检查的字符系统将包括头部、胸部、生殖前腹部、女性后腹部的骨骼肌肉系统，以及颧骨和颧骨前附着结构。获得的数据将与国际合作者提供的现有字符系统的数据相结合。涉及不同身体部位、分类群和创新方法的专业知识将产生强大的协同效应。基于新的形态证据的系统发育重建将为测试分子树和放置灭绝的类群提供来源。一个得到充分支持的系统学假说和“下新翅目”的全面进化假说是该项目的最终目标。

Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to reconstruct the phylogeny of the lower neopteran insects. Nevertheless, their relationships are still largely unresolved. This gap of knowledge might repre-sent the greatest shortcoming in insect systematics and evolution. The "Lower Neoptera" comprise 9 of the 11 principal lineages of neopteran insects (excluding Acercaria and Holometabola): the species-rich Orthoptera and Dictyoptera, the generalised Plecoptera, the highly specialised Phasmatodea, Embiop-tera, and Dermaptera, and the microdiverse Grylloblattodea, Mantophasmatodea, and Zoraptera. The knowledge of the morphology of all these groups is very fragmentary and superficial. Our project is de-signed to compile an extensive morphological dataset for a carefully chosen taxon sample, with a focus on presumptive key taxa. Examined character systems will include the skeletomuscular systems of the head, thorax, pregenital abdomen, female postabdomen, and the tarsal and pretarsal attachment struc-tures. The obtained data will be combined with those from existing character systems provided by interna-tional collaborators. The involved expertise on different body parts, taxa and innovative methods will lead to strong synergistic effects. The phylogenetic reconstruction based on the novel morphological evidence will provide a source for testing molecular trees and for placing extinct taxa. A well supported phyloge-netic hypothesis and comprehensive evolutionary scenario for the “Lower Neoptera” are the ultimate goals of the project.