Dissertation Research: Phylogenetic Reconstruction of the Simuliidae (Diptera: Culicomorpha) using Mitochondrial DNA

小行星9520613 蚋科黑蝇是世界范围内出现的一大群双翅目昆虫，但在非洲和美洲热带地区最臭名昭著，其中各种物种携带丝虫寄生虫，导致河盲症和其他疾病。 许多物种和属的分类和系统发育关系知之甚少，多年来提出的相互冲突的分类阻碍了有效的控制策略。 研究生约翰·莫尔顿（John Moulton）在亚利桑那大学导师大卫·麦迪森（David Maddison）教授的指导下，正在分析从世界各地收集的众多蚋科黑蝇分类群线粒体DNA的突变差异。 分子差异将用于构建蚋科属和族之间的进化联系的方案，然后这些关系可以与已知的组的形态特征进行比较和测试。 黑蝇提出了一些有趣的科学问题，如生物地理学和性状进化，这些问题一直没有得到成功的解决，因为迄今为止用于分类和鉴定的分类学相互冲突。 加拿大昆虫学家Currie最近的形态学工作为比较和对比DNA序列分析的新分子数据提供了一个可靠的框架。 这两种方法的整合应导致一个强大的系统发育的理解的进化和传播的黑蝇，包括那些窝藏疾病的载体。

9520613 Maddison The Simuliidae black flies are a large group of dipterans occurring worldwide, but most notorious in the African and American tropics where various species carry filarial parasites causing river blindness and other diseases. The taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships of the numerous species and genera are poorly understood, and the conflicting classifications proposed over the years hinder effective control strategies. Graduate student John Moulton, under the supervision of faculty adviser Prof. David Maddison at the University of Arizona, is analyzing mutational differences in mitochondrial DNA of numerous taxa of simuliid black flies collected from various parts of the world. The molecular differences will be used to construct a scheme of evolutionary connections among the genera and tribes of Simuliidae, and then these relationships can be compared with and tested against the known morphological features of the groups. Black flies present interesting scientific questions about biogeography and character evolution, questions that have resisted successful attack because of the conflicting taxonomies so far employed for their classification and identification. Recent morphological work by the Canadian entomologist Currie now provides a reliable framework for comparing and contrasting new molecular data from DNA sequence analyses. The integration of these two approaches should lead to a robust phylogenetic understanding of the evolution and dispersal of black flies, including those harboring disease vectors.