Understanding the roles of behavioural ecology, genes, plant hosts and fuel for flight to predict the migratory range of aphids. (4631)

自达尔文以来，昆虫飞行的作用一直备受争议，至今仍是一个令人兴奋的研究课题。昆虫飞行的生物学吸引了广泛的公众兴趣，从蜜蜂和蝴蝶的公民科学项目到电视节目，如阿滕伯勒的征服天空。对于一些神秘的物种，如帝王蝶和沙漠蝗虫，这些昆虫的迁徙路线是相当好的理解。对于其他物种，尽管它们具有生态系统服务功能，但科学尚未提供足够的证据证明它们可能的迁徙路线。挑战的出现是因为这些昆虫比蝴蝶和蝗虫小得多，这意味着它们无法被人眼甚至计算机视觉系统追踪，而是在起飞后很快消失在大气层中。几乎没有数据使这个项目具有挑战性，但也令人兴奋，可能产生有影响力的媒体互动和优秀的出版材料，以推进该领域。这个博士学位将通过在轨迹建模、碳和氮同位素分析、分子生物学和行为生态学实验中采用间接的科学方法来应对挑战，以了解高度破坏性的害虫蚜虫从哪里飞来。该项目得到了世界级的洛桑昆虫调查的数据、样本和昆虫学专业知识的支持，同时埃克塞特大学在应用昆虫学方面取得了最新进展，利用分子工具，如转录组学，来识别飞行过程中涉及的基因。成功的学生还将学习大气模型来预测昆虫可能的轨迹，与英国气象局的工作人员一起工作，以及应用同位素比质谱法来检测昆虫和宿主物质表面的碳和氮同位素，这些都是学生在第一年经历的旋转。这个跨学科的博士学位将为学生提供广泛的技能来发展他们的职业生涯，并提供足够的兴趣来挑战他们。最终，博士学位的主要成果将是通过回顾来自大气模型、同位素、基因和行为的广泛证据，更好地了解移民的可能来源。如果你对这个问题感到兴奋，人们是从欧洲大陆旅行数百英里还是在同一领域内进行短途飞行？那么请申请吧，不管你的背景如何。

Since Darwin, the role of insect flight has been hotly debated and remains an exciting topic of study. The biology of insect flight attracts widespread public interest and examples range from citizen science projects on bees and butterflies through to TV programs such as Attenborough's Conquest of the Skies. For a few enigmatic species like the monarch butterfly and desert locust, the migration routes of these insects are reasonably well understood. For other species, science has yet to provide sufficient evidence on their likely migration routes, despite their ecosystem service functions. The challenge arises because these insects are much smaller than butterflies and locusts, which means that they cannot be tracked by human eye or even with computer vision systems, but instead disappear quickly out of view into the atmosphere soon after take- off. The near absence of data makes this project challenging but also exciting, likely to yield impactful media interactions and excellent publication material to advance the field.This PhD will rise to the challenge by deploying indirect scientific methods in trajectory modelling, carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses, molecular biology and behavioural ecology experiments, to understand where highly damaging pest aphids flew from. The project is supported by the world-class Rothamsted Insect Survey's data, samples and entomological expertise alongside Exeter's recent advances in applied entomology using molecular tools, such as transcriptomics, to identify the genes involved during flight. The successful student will also learn about atmospheric models to predict the likely track of insects, working alongside staff from the Met Office, as well as the application of isotope ratio mass spectrometry to detect carbon and nitrogen isotopes on the surface of the insects and host material, both experienced by the student as rotations in year 1.This cross-disciplinary PhD will equip the student with a broad range of skills to develop their career as well as provide sufficient interest to challenge them. Ultimately, the main outcome of the PhD will be to better understand the likely source of migrants by reviewing the wide-ranging evidence from atmospheric models, isotopes, genes and behaviour. If you are excited by the question, did individuals travel hundreds of miles from continental Europe or take a short flight within the same field? Then please apply, whatever your background.