Basal Lineages of the Phoridae (Insecta: Diptera)

蝇科是一种非常大的小型蝇类，很少为人所知，其中一些是农业害虫，另一些具有生物控制害虫的潜力。在这个科中有大约3500个被描述的物种，但世界动物的实际总数接近35000个，这意味着只有大约10%的物种被科学家描述过。这些苍蝇是生物多样性最丰富的昆虫之一，其中一些是食腐动物、食草动物、食肉动物和寄生虫。有些与蚂蚁和白蚁联系在一起，并且奇怪地改变了雌性，没有翅膀，有类似甲虫的保护结构。关于最原始的翅蝇类群的分类一直存在尖锐的分歧，这阻碍了对它们的关系和多样性的理解。一个由博物馆形态学家和大学分子专家组成的团队将在全球范围内对这些原始蚜虫进行身体结构和DNA序列的研究。分子特征将包括大约4000个碱基对的线粒体和核基因。将在欧洲、北美、南美、新西兰和东南亚进行实地考察，收集新鲜标本进行分析；其他来自非洲的标本将由合作者提供。此外，我们将修订原始鸟属中最大属Dohrniphora的新世界种。目前已知的有85种，但我们将描述另外大约100种存在的新物种，这大大增加了我们对热带昆虫生物多样性的认识。蝇蛆是世界生物多样性中非常重要的一部分，科学家们几乎没有注意到这一点。对原始蚜虫的形态和基因的研究将使我们了解寄生或食草性等特征是如何在这一群体中产生的，也许在其他昆虫中也是如此。它将为这些苍蝇的分类提供一个强有力的框架，从而促进更好地交流它们之间的关系。对dohrniphora物种的深入了解将使这些易于收集的小型昆虫能够用于热带雨林的保护评估，并使我们能够更多地了解热带昆虫群落的多样性。项目将包括本科生，他们将在现场和实验室工作中获得宝贵的专业知识。

The Phoridae is an extremely large group of small, poorly-known flies,some of which are pests of agriculture, and others of which havepotential for biological control of pest insects. There are about 3,500described species in this family, but actual totals for the world faunaare closer to 35,000, meaning that only about 10% of them have beendescribed by scientists. These flies are among the most biologicallydiverse insects, with some being scavengers, herbivores, predators, andparasites. Some have become associated with ants and termites, and havebizarrely modified females that lack wings and have a beetle-likeprotective structure. There has been sharp disagreement about theclassification of the most primitive groups of phorid flies, which hashampered the understanding of their relationships and diversity. Theprimitive phorids will be studied on a worldwide basis using bodystructure as well as DNA sequences by a team of a museum-basedmorphologist and a university-based molecular expert. Molecularcharacters will include about 4000 base pairs of both mitochondrial andnuclear genes. Field expeditions will be carried out in Europe, NorthAmerica, South America, New Zealand, and southeast Asia to collect freshspecimens for analysis; additional specimens from Africa will beprovided by collaborators. Additionally, we will revise the New Worldspecies of the largest genus of primitive phorids, Dohrniphora. Thisgenus is currently known from 85 described species, but we will describethe approximately 100 further new species that exist, addingconsiderably to our knowledge of tropical insect biodiversity.Phorid flies are a highly significant part of the world's biodiversitythat has been barely addressed by scientists. Study of the morphologyand genes of primitive phorids will allow us to understand how traitslike parasitism or herbivory have arisen within this group, and perhapsin other insects as well. It will provide a robust framework for theclassification of these flies that will foster better communicationabout their relationships. A firm understanding of the species ofDohrniphora will allow these small, easily collected insects to be usedin conservation assessment in tropical rain forests, and will allow usto learn more about diversification of tropical insect faunas. Projectswill include undergraduate students, who will gain valuable expertise inboth field and laboratory work.