Collaborative Research: Chemical Ecology of Host Specialization in Phorid Parasitoids of Ants: An Experimental Analysis

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This project seeks to discover the ecological and evolutionary processes that govern host specificity of insect parasitoids of ants in the fly family Phoridae. As a group, these parasitoids consist of several 100 species in the Neotropical Region, most of which are extremely specialized, attacking one or a few closely related ant species. The research group, consisting of a natural products chemist, an evolutionary biologist and a behavioral ecologist, will focus on the chemical signals host ants use in communication (pheromones) as the primary cue by which the parasitoids locate hosts and lay their eggs in them. Once the chemical signals parasitoids use to find hosts are identified, the investigators will experimentally quantify the limits of host specificity by attracting parasitoids and inducing them to oviposit novel hosts to see if they develop normally. These chemical signals will then be mapped onto the phylogenetic tree of hosts and compared to the phylogenetic tree of the parasitoids to determine how the distribution of chemical signals shape the evolution of host specificity and shifts to novel hosts. Results of the project will have broad application to insect parasitoids and the potential for biological control of insect pests. Educational and outreach goals of the project include: 1) training US, Latin American and Caribbean graduate and undergraduate students in natural products chemistry and the ecological, behavioral and evolutionary aspects of life history specialization in insects; 2) training secondary school science teachers in the process of scientific research; and 3) using the results and products of the project to develop inquiry-based learning activities (IBAs) for Utah K-12 classrooms. These IBAs will focus on scientific issues such as conservation and biodiversity, adaptations and species interactions, and the family tree of life, all of which are part of the Utah state science core curriculum.