Collaborative Research: ARTS: Integrating phylogenomics and taxonomic training to overcome the taxonomic impediment in the genus Nylanderia

蚂蚁是地球上最普遍、最重要的生态动物之一。它们的社会性导致了不同的生活史和形态的进化，然而在估计的30,000种蚂蚁中，有一半仍然没有被发现，等待科学家的描述。蚂蚁的超大影响延伸到入侵物种，这些物种是世界上对生态和经济破坏最严重的物种之一。有效管理入侵蚂蚁的主要障碍之一是分类学上的不确定性，即许多物种无法可靠地彼此区分或与稳定的学名联系在一起。例如，尼兰德里亚属的数百种蚂蚁彼此非常相似，但只有15种已知存在问题。尽管这些蚂蚁很难识别，但它们的无处不在使它们无法被忽视；尼兰德拉属标本填满了博物馆中不明蚂蚁的抽屉，该属占在美国入境口岸截获的不明蚂蚁标本的20%。迫切需要对这一重要但在分类上混乱的蚂蚁属进行分类修订，以确定全球蚂蚁类群的物种边界，以及命名目前缺乏描述的许多物种。由于许多入侵蚂蚁分类群存在类似的问题，该项目还专注于培训下一代蚂蚁分类学家和专业昆虫识别员，这对于克服这一组中的分类障碍至关重要。该项目通过使用超保护元素(UCES)生成史无前例的分子基因组数据集来重建尼兰德里亚的全球进化历史，从而绕过了历史上对蚂蚁工作者形态的依赖。这一系统发育将构成该属详尽的分类学修订的基础，这将澄清现有的命名，描述100个新种，并在15个广泛的入侵物种复合体中解决物种边界。通过关注内部和外部雄性形态对物种界定和实用鉴定的价值，研究人员将把未被探索的特征集引入尼兰德里亚的研究，并测试这些特征与目前使用的工蚁和蚁后的系统发育价值。该项目将通过本科课程培训早期职业分类学家，包括新物种描述和入侵蚂蚁识别研讨会，关于入侵蚂蚁的公共艺术科学展览将展示蚂蚁的生态重要性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Ants are among the most ubiquitous and ecologically important animals on earth. Their sociality has led to the evolution of diverse life histories and morphologies, yet half of the estimated 30,000 ant species remain undiscovered and await description by scientists. Ants’ outsized impacts extend to invasive species, which rank among the most ecologically and economically damaging taxa worldwide. One of the primary obstacles to effective management of invasive ants is taxonomic uncertainty, that is, many species cannot be reliably distinguished from one another or associated with stable scientific names. For example, hundreds of species of ants in the genus Nylanderia closely resemble one another, but only 15 species are known to be problematic. Although these ants are difficult to identify, their ubiquity makes them impossible to ignore; Nylanderia specimens fill museum drawers of unidentified ants, and the genus comprises up to 20% of unidentified ant specimens intercepted at US ports of entry. Taxonomic revision of this important but taxonomically chaotic ant genus is urgently needed to define species boundaries of globetrotting taxa, as well as to name the many species that currently lack description. Because many invasive ant taxa present similar problems, this project focuses also on training the next generation of ant taxonomists and professional insect identifiers, which is essential to overcoming the taxonomic impediment in this group.This project sidesteps a historical reliance on ant worker morphology by generating an unprecedented molecular genomic dataset, using ultraconserved elements (UCEs), to reconstruct the global evolutionary history of Nylanderia. This phylogeny will form the basis of an exhaustive taxonomic revision of the genus, which will clarify existing nomenclature, describe 100 new species, and resolve species boundaries in 15 widespread invasive species complexes. By focusing on the value of internal and external male morphology to species delimitation and practical identification, the researchers will introduce unexplored character sets into the study of Nylanderia and test the phylogenetic value of these characters against currently used worker-caste ants and queens. The project will train early career taxonomists through undergraduate courses involving new species descriptions and invasive ant identification workshops, and a public art-science exhibition about invasive ants will illustrate the ecological importance of ants.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.