The enemy within: evolution and diversification of parasitoid flies

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Parasitoids have a unique life-strategy that is an intermediary between predators and true parasites, in which they feed on a single host individual that is ultimately killed. They play a central role in ecosystem services, pest population control, and have considerable economic and medical impact to humans. These organisms are highly diverse and specialized, as they are completely dependent on the host and have to overcome its defenses and immunity. Although thousands of studies have investigated the role of parasitoid insects in the biological control of agricultural pests, only a handful have explored the significance of parasitoid adaptations and evolutionary processes in their host associations. Therefore, it is still unclear how host preference evolves and how it influences parasitoid diversification. The long-term goal of my research program is to unravel the diversification, evolutionary adaptations, and host affinities of parasitoid insects, and use this knowledge to explore the interplay between trait evolution and ecological specialization. Due to the repeated independent evolution of parasitoidy within the group, flies represent one the best models to investigate the evolution of this complex life history. In the next five years, I will focus on three short-term objectives: (i) determine the ancestral life histories of parasitoid fly lineages; (ii) investigate the key respiratory innovations of parasitoid flies and their significance to lineage diversification and life history evolution; and (iii) explore the ecological, behavioural, and phenotypic adaptations of parasitoid flies and their consequences to host specialization. My research program will use modern advances in high-throughput sequencing, combined with the prospects of museomics and new comparative methods, to explore the interplay between ecological and phenotypic adaptations and their significance to fly diversification, host associations, and the evolution of specialization. This program will answer fundamental questions about linking species' traits to the evolution of specialization, while broadening our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms by which independent lineages of insects acquired parasitoid life histories. The data-driven and collections-focused approach of this program will critically inform our understanding of organismal diversity and the factors influencing biodiversity maintenance, essential in the Anthropocene age. This research will not only expand our knowledge of fly diversity, evolution, diversification, and natural history, but also train three PhD, one MSc, and two BSc students in state-of-the-art analytical and statistical techniques that cut across the disciplines of entomology, genomics, bioinformatics, and evolutionary biology, and are considered highly desirable skills in the academic, governmental, and industry sectors.