Systematics of Brachyceran Diptera

短翅目双翅目系统学

• 批准号: 314051-2012
• 负责人: Skevington, Jeffrey
• 金额: $ 1.53万
• 依托单位: Carleton University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=548854
• 关键词: Systematics; Brachyceran; Diptera

More scientists are urgently needed to document the planet's diversity and in our lab we will be focusing on a megadiverse group, the true flies (Diptera). Over 150,000 described species exist in this group and this is still the tip of the iceberg. My research has focused on several families of higher flies but students will be encouraged to work on any projects that fascinate them. The group that I have worked on most is the family Pipunculidae, big-headed flies. These insects are parasitoids of leafhoppers, planthoppers, spittlebugs, and crane flies. Female big-headed flies lay single eggs inside their developing hosts and the larvae typically kill the hosts when they emerge. Very little work has been conducted on the association of big-headed flies and their hosts because of the lack of taxonomic knowledge. This project will facilitate research into the ecology and co-evolution of pipunculids and their hosts. We will also explore and document diversity in the families Conopidae (thick-headed flies) and Syrphidae (flower flies). Although our work will be global, we will have regional foci in North America and Australia. Australia has a particularly fascinating insect fauna that has evolved in isolation for millions of years. Many questions about biodiversity and rapid diversification of groups may be studied on this fascinating continent. One of our best methods for posing questions like this in biology requires that we have a hypothesis of how related species evolved. Phylogenetics uses data from DNA and morphology to try to uncover this evolutionary history of groups. We will be applying these methods to study related species, related families and even to explore the relationships between all families of higher flies. This exciting research involves teams of individuals from ten countries working collaboratively. Students in my lab will help to organize pieces of the puzzle to uncover this tree of life for Diptera. The phylogenies created will have far-reaching uses as we try to predict the unknown based on knowledge that we have for a few well-studied groups.

迫切需要更多的科学家来记录地球的多样性，在我们的实验室里，我们将专注于一个极其多样化的群体，真正的苍蝇(双翅目)。超过15万种被描述的物种存在于这个群体中，这仍然是冰山一角。我的研究主要集中在几个高苍蝇家族上，但我会鼓励学生们从事任何他们感兴趣的项目。我工作过的最多的群体是大头苍蝇科大头苍蝇。这些昆虫是叶蝉、稻飞虱、唾虫和鹤类的寄生蜂。雌性大头苍蝇在发育中的寄主体内产卵，幼虫通常在孵化时杀死寄主。由于缺乏分类学知识，关于大头蝇与其宿主之间的联系的研究工作很少。该项目将有助于研究海豚及其寄主的生态和共同进化。我们还将探索和记录Conopidae(粗头苍蝇)和Syrphidae(花蝇)科的多样性。虽然我们的工作将是全球性的，但我们将把重点放在北美和澳大利亚。澳大利亚有一个特别迷人的昆虫区系，几百万年来一直与世隔绝地进化。许多关于生物多样性和种群迅速多样化的问题可能会在这片迷人的大陆上被研究。我们在生物学中提出这样的问题的最好方法之一，是要求我们对相关物种是如何进化的有一个假设。系统发育学使用来自DNA和形态的数据来试图揭示这种群体的进化史。我们将应用这些方法来研究相关物种、相关科，甚至探索所有高等苍蝇科之间的关系。这项令人兴奋的研究涉及来自10个国家的个人团队合作。我实验室的学生将帮助组织拼图的碎片，以揭开双翅目的这棵生命之树。随着我们试图根据我们对几个经过充分研究的群体所掌握的知识来预测未知，所创建的系统发育将具有深远的用途。