DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Phylogeny and Natural History of the Flanged Bombardier Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae)

亚利桑那大学的戴维·R·麦迪森博士和温迪·摩尔女士获得了美国国家科学基金会博士学位论文改进助学金，以资助对喜欢蚂蚁的轰炸机甲虫的研究。庞巴迪甲虫具有显著的化学属性和行为。它们通过在100摄氏度(水的沸点)时排泄有毒化学物质来阻止捕食者。Paussine是仅有的两组轰炸机甲虫之一。许多假正弦物种是蚂蚁的专属客体。间接证据表明，甲虫可能通过化学物质和底物产生的振动与蚂蚁宿主进行交流。成年甲虫生活在它们以蚂蚁幼虫为食的宿主蚂蚁巢内。雌性甲虫在蚂蚁巢内产卵，蚂蚁就像抚养自己的幼虫一样抚养甲虫幼虫。作为回报，甲虫会排泄一种未知的物质，供蚂蚁食用。利用DNA序列数据，受赠者将确定甲虫体内的轰炸能力是否进化了一次或两次。他们还将推断伪甲虫主要种群之间的进化关系模式。这项工作将导致出版描述这些甲虫的进化史的分支图，这将为后续对伪正弦化学和自然历史的研究奠定基础。这笔赠款还将帮助资助一次前往非洲的收集探险队，以获取必要的甲虫标本。在这次访问期间，温迪·摩尔女士将在非洲的大学和自然历史博物馆向不同的观众展示她对暂停甲虫的研究。她还帮助招募非洲研究生加入她的工作。因此，这次考察将促进美国和非洲学者和机构之间的关系，并极大地提高她的研究生培训。

A NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant has been awarded to Dr. David R. Maddison and Ms. Wendy Moore of the University of Arizona to fund research on ant-loving bombardier beetles, known as paussines. Bombardier beetles have remarkable chemical attributes and behaviors. They deter predators by excreting toxic chemicals at 100 degrees Celsius, the boiling point of water. Paussines are one of only two groups of bombardier beetles. Many paussine species are obligate guests of ants. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the beetles may communicate with their ant hosts via chemicals and substrate borne vibrations. Adult beetles live inside their host ant nests where they feed on ant larvae. Female beetles lay their eggs inside of the ant nest and the ants raise the beetle larvae as if they were their own young. In return, the beetles excrete an unknown substance that the ants consume. Using DNA sequence data, the grantees will determine if the ability to bombard evolved once or twice within beetles. They will also infer the pattern of evolutionary relationship among the major groups of paussine beetles. This work will result in the publication of a branching diagram depicting the evolutionary history of these beetles that will set the foundation for subsequent studies of paussine chemistry and natural history. This grant will also help fund a collecting expedition to Africa to acquire necessary beetle specimens. During this visit Ms. Wendy Moore will present her research on paussine beetles to a variety of audiences at Universities and Natural History museums in Africa. She also helps to enlist African graduate students to join her in the field. Thus this expedition will facilitate relations between US and African academics and institutions, and greatly enhance her graduate training.