REVSYS: Finishing the ant-decapitating flies, genus Apocephalus (Insecta, Diptera, Phoridae)

蝴蝶科是一大群小苍蝇(0.5-6.0毫米长)，分布在世界各地。目前已知的4000个物种可能只占实际物种总数的10%。在蜂花属中，有275个描述种仅见于北美洲、中美洲和南美洲。这些苍蝇是寄生的，主要以蚂蚁为食，幼虫以蚂蚁组织为食，经常斩首蚂蚁宿主。此外，寄生蝇可能会对蚂蚁的各种行为产生深远的影响。在这个项目中，将对大约400种Apocephalus进行修订(该属的其余物种以前已经被PI处理过)。将描述许多新物种，使用DNA序列和身体结构来研究它们的关系，并提出一个新的分类。在北美(亚利桑那州、得克萨斯州)和新大陆热带(阿根廷、哥斯达黎加、秘鲁)的实地工作将发现更多的新物种和宿主-寄生虫协会。这些苍蝇有很大的潜力被用作寄主蚂蚁的生防剂。该项目将使Apocephalus物种成为可能的生物控制工具，提供识别物种的公开和在线检索表，并制作网页，使有关它们的信息普遍可用。两名新的研究生将接受该项目的培训，提供更多关于幻蝇鉴定的专业知识，并扩大该项目的范围。

The family Phoridae is a large group of small (0.5-6.0 mm long) flies that are found worldwide. The 4,000 species that are currently known may represent as little as 10% of the actual total number of species. In the phorid genus Apocephalus, 275 described species are found only in North, Central, and South America. These flies are parasitic, mostly on ants, and the larvae feed on ant tissue and often decapitate their ant host. In addition, the parasitic flies may have profound effects on a variety of ant behaviors. In this project, approximately 400 species of Apocephalus will be revised (the rest of the genus having been previously treated by the PI). Many new species will be described, their relationships investigated using both DNA sequences and body structure, and a new classification proposed. Field work in North America (Arizona, Texas) and the New World tropics (Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru) will uncover additional new species and host-parasite associations. These flies have a strong potential to be used as biological control agents of their host ants. This project will make Apocephalus species available as possible biocontrol tools by providing published and online keys for identifying the species, and making web pages so that information about them is generally available. Two new graduate students will be trained in the project, providing more expertise on phorid fly identification and broadening the scope of the project.