Studies on Ant Systematics

9419242病房这个项目的目的是加深我们对蚂蚁生物学和分类学的了解。该项目的一部分重点是假蚂蚁属，这是一组在新大陆热带地区常见和广泛存在的蚂蚁。将根据形态区分假蜂属的不同种，描述新种并命名，开发种识别检索表，分析种间的历史和生物学关系。由于这些蚂蚁仅生活在新大陆热带地区，它们的历史可能会告诉我们一些关于中南美洲的地理史。此外，许多假蜂属物种与特殊植物生活在亲密的互惠关系中：这些植物为蚂蚁提供庇护所，蚂蚁反过来保护它们的“宿主植物”免受以植物为食的昆虫和脊椎动物的伤害。对假蚂蚁的改进分类将有助于我们了解这些与植物共生的联系是如何起源的。它还可以为我们如何操纵蚂蚁数量来保护对人类具有重要经济意义的植物提供线索。该项目的第二部分涉及研究统称为“脊椎动物群”的分类和关系。这个群体中的蚂蚁表现出令人惊叹的生物或生态系统角色：一些是食腐动物，一些是捕食者，一些胆小，一些贪婪(例如军蚁)。物种的一个亚群甚至由在巢中培养真菌作为食物的“农业”蚂蚁组成。这第二项研究的目的是提高我们对这些蚂蚁的系统知识，并构建一个分类，准确地总结群体成员之间的关系。目前的分类被认为是有缺陷的，因为最近的证据表明，一些亚科、部落和属是人为地将物种组合在一起，由本质上肤浅的特征定义的，没有反映物种之间的历史关系。在这项研究中，也是第一项研究中，使用的主要数据来源是形态学；由此产生的分类改进将使我们更好地了解这一不同蚂蚁群体的生态和行为。这项研究将有助于我们了解蚂蚁的热带生物多样性。蚂蚁是生态系统的重要组成部分，从人类经济学的角度来看，蚂蚁包括几个有益的成员以及少数被认为是有害的成员。***

9419242 WARD The purpose of this project is to enhance our understanding of ant biology and taxonomy. One part of the project focuses on the genus Pseudomyrmex, a group of ants which are common and widespread in the New World tropics. The species of Pseudomyrmex will be distinguished from one another on the basis of morphology, new species will be described and given names, keys for species identification will be developed, and the historical and biological relationships among species will be analyzed. Because these ants are confined to the New World tropics their histories may tell us something about the geographical history of Central and South America. Moreover, many Pseudomyrmex species live in intimate, mutually beneficial associations with specialized plants: the plants provide shelter for the ants and the ants in return protect their "host plant" from plant-feeding insects and vertebrates. An improved classification of Pseudomyrmex ants will help us understand how these symbiotic associations with plants originate. It could also provide clues as to how we might manipulate ant populations to protect plants of economic importance to man. A second part of this project involves studying the classification and relationships which are collectively known as the "poneroid group". The ants in this group display an amazing range of biological or ecosystem roles: some are scavengers, some are predators, some timid and some rapacious (e.g. army ants). One subgroup of species is even comprised of "agricultural" ants that culture fungi in their nests for food. The aim of this second study is to improve our systematic knowledge of these ants and to construct a classification which accurately summarizes the relationships among members of the group. The currently existing classification is believed to be deficient because of recent evidence that some of the subfamilies, tribes and genera are artificially grouped assemblages of species, defined by characters that are superficial in nature and not reflective of the historical relationships among the species. In this study, as well as the first, the primary source of data to be used is morphology; the resulting improvement in classification will give us better insight into the ecology and behavior of this diverse group of ants. %%% This study will contribute to our understanding of tropical biodiversity of ants. Ants are important components of ecosystems and, in terms of human economics, include several members that are beneficial as well as those few that are considered pests. ***