A Molecular Phylogeny of the Miletinae (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

小行星9615760 Miletinae是蝴蝶（鳞翅目）的一个亚科，目前包含许多捕食性或寄生性的物种。 这些物种大多捕食蚜虫、蚂蚁或介壳虫，有几种在世界各地被用作生物控制剂。 如果亚科是单系的，那么它代表了鳞翅目中最大的一组密切相关的捕食性和寄生性物种。 在这项研究中，Naomi Pierce将利用线粒体和核基因的分子特征来重建Miletinae四族十三属之间的系统发育关系。 这些结果应该可以确定该亚科是否是单系的，并提供洞察力，以了解在大多数情况下以植物为食的昆虫中如何出现不寻常的摄食习惯（如食肉），以及为什么具有这种不寻常摄食习惯的物种在这组蝴蝶中取得了成功，而不是在其他蝴蝶中。 这项工作也将有助于我们了解蝴蝶家族灰蝶科的多样性，其中Miletinae属于。

9615760 PIERCE The Miletinae, a subfamily of butterflies (Lepidoptera), currently contains many species that are predatory or parasitic. Most of these species prey on aphids, ants or scale insects, and several are used as biological control agents in different parts of the world. If the subfamily is monophyletic, then it represents the largest group of closely-related predatory and parasitic species within the Lepidoptera. In this research, Naomi Pierce will use molecular characters from both mitochondrial and nuclear genes to recontruct the phylogenetic relationships among the four tribes and thirteen genera of the Miletinae. The results should determine whether the subfamily is monophyletic, provide insight into how unusual feeding habits such as carnivory appeared among insects that, for the most part, eat plants, and why species with such unusual feeding habits have succeeded in this group of butterflies but not in others. The work will also contribute to our understanding of diversification within the butterfly family Lycaenidae, to which the Miletinae belongs.