Phylogenomics and Morphology of the Hemipteroid Insect Orders

在所有已知的物种中，有一半以上是昆虫。 半翅目昆虫，包括真蝽、叶蝉、蚜虫、蓟马和寄生虱，包括超过120，000种描述的物种，约占昆虫多样性的12%。 这类昆虫包括许多种类的作物害虫以及人类疾病载体。 该项目的目标是通过采样170个目标物种来了解半翅目昆虫的亲缘关系。 用于分析的数据将包括从完整基因组测序的1000多个基因和300多个特征的大型形态数据集。这个项目在科学上很重要，因为关于这组昆虫的家族水平分类关系几乎没有共识。 在该项目过程中收集的大量数据应最终解决这一问题。 这些发现也将具有相当广泛的意义。 例如，来自这些昆虫基因组的数据可能揭示控制研究中包括的作物害虫的新策略。 该项目还将包括对本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员的培训。 公众宣传活动将包括一个移动的科学中心的生命之树展示和错误ID卡。

More than half of all known species are insects. The hemipteroid insects, which include true bugs, leafhoppers, aphids, thrips, and parasitic lice, comprise over 120,000 described species, about 12% of insect diversity. This group of insects contains many species of crop pests as well as human disease vectors. The goals of this project are to understand the family tree of relationships for the hemipteroids by sampling 170 target species covering the diversity of this group. Data for analysis will include over 1000 genes sequenced from complete genomes and a large morphological data set of over 300 characters.This project is scientifically important because there is little consensus regarding the family level taxonomic relationships of this group of insects. The large amount of data collected in the course of this project should conclusively solve this problem. The findings will also have considerable broader significance. For example, data from the genomes of these insects may reveal new strategies for control of the crop pest insects included in the study. This project will also include training for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as post-doctoral researchers. Public outreach activities will include a Tree of Life display for a Mobile Science Center and Bug ID cards.