Phylogenetic and Comparative Studies of Tiger moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidae)

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏与再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助的。该项目将评估老虎蛾之间的进化关系，以及蛾的取食行为与植物化学物质的进化关联，这些植物化学物质有助于保护蛾免受捕食者的侵害。虎蛾之间的关系将使用DNA数据进行评估，这些信息将有助于回答关于虎蛾谱系的生活史和形态进化的具体问题。一个这样的问题涉及到特定的口器结构与以潜在保护性植物化学物质为食的成虫的联系。另一个问题是研究用于防御蝙蝠捕食和飞蛾求偶的超声波产生结构是否与取食行为的变化在进化上相关。这些结果可能为通过研究可能在独特的生态和生理约束下进化的新系统，对动物行为的进化提供有价值的见解。研究生和本科生都将接受培训，作为这项工作的一部分，这项研究的其他科学产品将包括一个关于蝴蝶和蛾类口器的进化以及成虫摄食策略的网络教程。对科学基础设施的贡献将包括在Morphbank、Genbank和All-Lep Barcode of Life项目数据库中存储数据。这些信息将对生理学、生态学和进化生物学的教育推广和未来研究有价值。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."The project will assess evolutionary relationships among tiger moths and the evolutionary associations of moth feeding behavior with plant chemicals that serve to protect moths from predators. Relationships among tiger moths will be assessed using DNA data and this information will allow specific questions of life history and morphological evolution in this moth lineage to be answered. One such question involves the association of particular mouthpart structures with adult feeding on potentially protective plant chemicals. Another question examines whether ultrasound-producing structures used in defense against bat predation and in moth courtship are evolutionarily correlated with changes in feeding behavior.These results could provide valuable insights into the evolution of animal behavior through examination of a novel system that likely evolved under unique ecological and physiological constraints. Both graduate and undergraduate students will be trained as part of the work and additional scientific products of this study will include a web-based tutorial on the evolution of butterfly and moth mouthparts and adult feeding strategies. Contributions to scientific infrastructure will include deposition of data in Morphbank, Genbank, and the All-Leps Barcode of Life project database. This information will be valuable for educational outreach and future studies in physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.