Dissertation Research: Evolutionary Consequences of Flightlessness in Longhorn Beetles

这个项目在不同的时间和空间尺度上研究了长角甲虫翅膀损失的后果。为了比较有翼和无翼昆虫的种群结构、生物地理和多样化率，将对长角甲虫（天牛科）的DNA变异进行研究。基因流动将在不同的空间尺度上被测量，线粒体DNA将被检查以解决这些群体的谱系历史。这些信息将用于研究紧跟最后一个冰河期的更新世时期的气候变化如何对有翼昆虫和不会飞昆虫的分布产生不同的影响。来自核DNA和线粒体DNA的信息将用于确定物种限制，有翼和不会飞行的昆虫之间的地方性对比水平，以及识别隐藏和/或濒危物种或种群。最后，这些遗传数据将与地质历史信息进行比较，以检查外部地质事件在促进这两个群体多样化中发挥作用的程度。这将反过来提高我们对物种如何形成和彼此区分的理解。除了它的科学效益，这个项目将提高我们对过去气候变化的理解，这将使我们能够更好地预测由于人为大气气体造成的当代气候变化的后果。

Farrell0073291This project investigates the consequences of wing loss in longhorn beetles over a variety of temporal and spatial scales. DNA variation will be examined in longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) in order to compare population structure, biogeography, and diversification rates between winged and flightless insects. Gene flow will be measured between populations on a variety of spatial scales, and mitochondrial DNA will be examined to resolve the genealogical history of these groups. This information will then used to examine how climate changes during the Pleistocene Epoch, immediately following the last ice age, may have differentially affected the distribution of winged and flightless insects. Information from nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA will be used to establish species limits, contrast levels of endemism between winged and flightless insects, and identify cryptic and/or endangered species or populations. Finally, these genetic data will be compared with information about geologic history to examine the extent to which extrinsic geologic events have played a role in promoting diversification in these two groups. This will in turn improve our understanding of how species are formed and differentiated from one another. In addition to its scientific benefits, this project will improve our understanding of past climate change, which will allow us to make better predictions about the consequences of contemporary climate change due to man-made atmospheric gases.