植物与昆虫的相互关系是当今陆地生态系统的重要组成部分，也是生态学研究的热点之一。但地史时期植物与昆虫的相互关系，以及形成这些相互关系的生物之间的协同演化过程等还存在许多未解之谜。在前期国家基金资助下，申请人对二叠纪矿化植物进行了系统的研究，并对植物茎干中保存的蛀木节肢动物遗迹开展了初步工作。最近，申请人发现华夏植物群某些松柏类标本的解剖结构不仅与现生支系具较高可比性，而且还保存了精美的蛀木甲虫化石，如蛀孔、粪便颗粒等遗迹以及口器、卵壳等实体标本；申请人在欧洲也发现了一些类似的化石材料。本项目拟通过进一步收集二叠纪矿化松柏类植物与蛀木甲虫标本，利用Micro-CT等技术对这类珍贵材料展开系统研究，揭示二叠纪松柏类植物和甲虫的分异、相互关系（甲虫生活习性、宿主植物生理响应），并进一步探讨两者的协同演化机制。本项目将为深入认识地史时期的陆地生态系统以及松柏类与蛀木甲虫的协同演化提供信息。

Plant–insect interaction plays a pivotal role in today’s terrestrial ecosystems, including nutrient cycling, crucial food web links and mutualistic relationships. However, the interactions between plants and insects during the deep geological times are so far less well understood due to lack of fossil evidence. Permineralised plant specimens offer a unique window into the plant–insect interactions and their co-evolution. Based on the previously NSFC-supported studies, the applicant has collected a large number of well-preserved permineralised plant axes from the Permian of the Cathaysian Flora. These permineralised axes not only possess very detailed anatomical structures, such like the pith, primary xylem, leaf trace and bark, but also show diverse evidence of fossil insects. The applicant also has obtained some similar material from the Euramerican Flora. The applicant preliminarily found that the anatomical structures of some Permian conifers showing high similarity to that of certain extant lineage, more interestingly, these fossil conifers preserved with a lot wood-boring beetle information, such like mandibles, chitins, egg chlorins, coprolites, tunnel complex, etc. The applicant plans to study these precious specimens by using Micro-CT and other techniques, to reveal the diversity/evolution of conifer, and the interaction/co-evolution of the conifers and wood-boring beetles, e.g. the feeding behavior of wood-boring beetles, the physiological reaction of the host plants. The project will for the first time document the fossil record of both conifers and wood-boring beetles from the Permian Cathaysian Flora, and shed light on a comprehensive understanding for the ancient terretrial ecosystems and the co-evolutionary history of conifers and wood-boring beetles.