RUI: Collaborative: Evolution of host use by Blepharoneura (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Guraniinae (Cucurbitaceae) Plants

玛莎·康登博士（康奈尔学院，山）获得了一笔赠款。弗农，爱荷华州）和苏珊斯文森博士（伊萨卡学院，伊萨卡，纽约州），以测试有关昆虫-植物相互作用的进化假设。植物和以它们为食的昆虫代表了地球上的大多数物种。康登和斯文森解决了一个普遍的问题：为什么某些昆虫只吃某些种类的植物或植物的某些部分，这种特异性如何影响多样化？该项目旨在发现影响主机使用模式的因素。为了揭示和分析这些模式，康登和斯文森以及他们的本科生将收集和分析新发现的新热带区果蝇及其宿主植物的生态，形态和分子数据。该项目包括作为研究伙伴的本科生，重点关注两组经济上重要的生物：实蝇科（地中海果蝇科）和葫芦科（南瓜和葫芦科）。将本科生纳入研究的各个方面直接有助于科学教育。 该项目还为发现和了解生物多样性做出了广泛贡献，特别是在热带地区。了解有助于多样化的因素直接有助于广泛了解医药和农业问题：新的致病生物和害虫的出现往往与寄主使用模式的变化有关。本研究将测试的方式，在主机使用模式的变化与多样化的假设。

A grant has been awarded to Dr. Martha Condon (Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA) and Dr. Susan Swensen (Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY) to test hypotheses about the evolution of insect-plant interactions. Plants and the insects that feed on them represent the majority of species on earth. Condon and Swensen address the general question: Why do certain insects eat only certain kinds of plants or certain parts of plants, and how does such specificity affect diversification? The project is designed to discover the factors that affect patterns of host use. To reveal and analyze those patterns, Condon and Swensen and their undergraduate students will collect and analyze ecological, morphological, and molecular data on newly discovered species of neotropical fruit flies and their host plants.The project, which includes undergraduates as research partners, focuses on two economically important groups of organisms: the Tephritidae (the Mediterranean fruit fly family) and the Cucurbitaceae (the squash and gourd family). Inclusion of undergraduates in all aspects of the research contributes directly to science education. This project also contributes broadly to discovery and understanding of biological diversity, especially in the tropics. Understanding factors that contribute to diversification contributes directly to broad understanding of problems in medicine and agriculture: emergence of new disease causing organisms and pests is often related to changes in host use patterns. This study will test hypotheses about the ways in which changes in host use patterns are associated with diversification.