Molecular Phylogeny of Membracoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera): A Test of Alternative Evolutionary Scenarios

小行星9726282 膜翅目昆虫总科分子系统学研究：一种替代进化方案的检验 包括超过25，000个描述的物种，膜翅目（叶蝉和树蝉）是一个高度多样化和成功的植物饲养昆虫谱系。对基于形态学的系统发育关系假设的否定阻碍了理解各种独特生态和行为特征的进化起源的尝试（例如，蚂蚁共生，父母的照顾，恩膏行为）和可能的作用，获得或失去这些特点发挥了多样化的群体。该项目将通过增加来自大样本叶蝉和树蝉物种的核核糖体（28 S）和蛋白质编码（延伸因子1-α）基因序列的字符，提高对膜类家族群分类群之间系统发育关系的分辨率。这些数据的分析将解决一些长期存在的问题，包括：（1）树跳最初的分歧是与跳跃能力的丧失和无柄的，隐蔽的少年阶段的获得相一致，还是这些保留了祖先的特征？（2）树跳是否如一种基于形态学的进化论所暗示的那样，在冈瓦纳大陆分裂之前就出现了，还是像化石记录所暗示的那样，这一谱系是在南美洲大陆与世隔绝之后才出现的？(3)栖息地、寄主和/或取食策略的改变是否促进了某些叶蝉和树蝉类群的多样化？（4）蚂蚁的互利共生和护卵行为是否在几个不同谱系中独立获得？

9726282 Dietrich Molecular Phylogeny of Membracoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera): A Test of Alternative Evolutionary Scenarios Comprising over 25,000 described species, the Membracoidea (leafhoppers and treehoppers) are a highly diverse and successful lineage of plant-feeding insects. Conflicting morphology-based hypotheses of phylogenetic relationship have hindered attempts to understand the evolutionary origins of various unique ecological and behavioral characteristics (e.g., ant-mutualism, parental care, anointing behavior) and the possible roles that the acquisition or loss of such traits played in the diversification of the group. This project will provide increased resolution of the phylogenetic relationships among membracoid family-group taxa by adding characters from nuclear ribosomal (28S) and protein-coding (elongation factor l-alpha) gene sequences for a large sample of leafhopper and treehopper species. Analyses of these data will address a number of long-standing questions, including: (1) Did the initial divergence of treehoppers coincide with the loss ofjumping ability and acquisition of a sessile, cryptic juvenile stage, or are these retained ancestral characteristicsT; (2) Did treehoppers arise prior to the break-up of Gondwana, as implied by one morphology-based phylogeny, or did this lineage arise in South America after the isolation of that continent, as implied by the fossil record?; (3) Did shifts in habitat, host, and/or feeding stragegy promote the diversification of certain leafhopper and treehopper groups?; and (4) Were ant mutualism and egg-guarding behavior acquired independently in several different lineages?