Collaborative Research: RUI: Extreme polyphagy, extreme diversity or both? Armored scale insects of tropical rainforests on 4 continents

调查人员将调查四大洲热带雨林遗址的甲蚧昆虫。 他们将建立一个标本和它们的DNA的参考集合。 利用DNA序列和解剖特征，他们将发现和描述新物种，研究它们的进化历史，并制作一个在线交互式密钥。许多盔甲蚧虫是入侵性害虫，在美国每年估计损失20亿美元。 这些害虫中的许多可以以非常大的植物多样性为食，并且可能原产于热带雨林等植物多样性高的地区。 然而，热带雨林中的甲壳类昆虫区系尚不清楚。 在一项试点研究中，研究人员发现这些世界范围内的害虫物种中有几种在巴拿马雨林冠层中很常见。 它们可能是地球上数量最多的食草动物。 该项目将首次在它们可能的祖先栖息地调查它们，并可能发现其他尚未成为入侵害虫但未来可能成为入侵害虫的物种。 与此同时，调查人员将开发工具，使检查员能够识别这些害虫，如果和当他们出现在植物检疫。

The investigators will survey the armored scale insects of tropical rainforest sites on four continents. They will build a reference collection of specimens and their DNA. Using both DNA sequences and anatomical features, they will discover and describe new species, investigate their evolutionary history, and produce an online interactive key. Many armored scale insects are invasive pests, costing an estimated $2 billion per year in the US. Many of these pests can feed on an extraordinarily large diversity of plants, and are probably native to areas with high plant diversity such as tropical rainforests. However, the armored scale insect fauna of tropical rainforests is unknown. In a pilot study, the investigators found that several of these worldwide pest species are common in a Panama rainforest canopy. These may be some of the most abundant herbivores on earth. This project will investigate them for the first time in their probable ancestral habitat, and will likely discover other species that are not yet invasive pests but that are likely to become invasive pests in the future. At the same time the investigators will develop tools that will enable inspectors to identify these pests if and when they show up in plant quarantine.