NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Going back in time: using museum collections to reconstruct the history of a host shift in an invasive insect

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This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Interactions between insects and the plants they eat impacts biodiversity, and the introduction of a non-native species provides a unique window into the earliest stages of how these introduced insects adapt to a new food source. This research uses a wealth of historical data in museum collections to reconstruct how an invasive insect pest adapted to a native host plant over a 100-year period. By integrating fieldwork, laboratory work, and genomic data from historical and current samples, the fellow will gain insight into how invasive species adapt over time and in different environments. Better knowledge of how invasive species change to fit their new surroundings is vital for understanding evolution, as well as developing strategies for agricultural pest management. This research will also provide training for the fellow to use and contribute to undervalued museum collections, mentor individuals from underrepresented groups in field research, and create a website for public engagement in pest identification. The fellow will investigate the morphological, behavioral, and genetic changes that accompanied adaptation to a native pine in the invasive pine sawfly Diprion similis. First introduced to North America in 1914, D. similis rapidly shifted to native White Pine, Pinus strobus. To reconstruct the history of this host shift, the fellow will combine extensive museum collections of D. similis from 3 international institutions together with sampling from contemporary populations. First, the fellow will use museum specimens and associated host data to assess morphological and behavioral change across both the native and introduced ranges over the entire history of the invasion. Second, the fellow will evaluate whether these morphological and behavioral changes are adaptive by revisiting historical collection sites and using a combination of field surveys and laboratory assays to measure host preference and host performance. Finally, the project aims to use whole-genome resequencing data from both modern and historical samples to uncover the demographic history of the North American invasion. Together, this project aims to address several longstanding questions about host specialization and rapid adaptation in invasive species, while meeting several career training goals. The fellow will become an expert in working with D. similis, as well as develop genomic skills and resources to enable use of this novel study system in an independent research position. The broader impacts of the project include student mentoring and public engagement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.