Comparative analysis of host-shift speciation in the redheaded pine sawfly, Neodiprion lecontei (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae)

这项拟议的研究旨在了解植物食性昆虫如何适应它们的寄主植物，以及这一过程在多大程度上导致自然界中新物种的形成。虽然大多数松锯蝇只以一种松树为食，但红头松锯蝇（RHPS）是北美东部多种松树的主要害虫。通过田野调查、实验室实验和DNA测序的结合，该项目将确定：(1)RHPS是否适合不同的松树物种，(2)来自不同松树的RHPS在遗传上是不同的，(3)来自不同松树的RHPS是否可以产生后代，这将表明这些是否是不同的、未被识别的物种。植物食性昆虫约占所有物种的25%，是地球上最多样化的生物之一。通过描述昆虫如何适应寄主植物并确定适应与物种形成之间的联系，这项拟议的研究将有助于解释相当一部分生物多样性的起源。在应用层面，确定RHPS是否由多种未被识别的物种组成，将对管理这种破坏性害虫的爆发产生直接影响。此外，该项目的综合性质为本科生和研究生提供了理想的训练环境。最后，由于寄主植物适应是一个直观的过程，而RHPS是当地动物群的一部分，因此本研究可以用来向生物学学生传达基本的进化原理。为此，肯塔基州东部的高中将开发并评估相关的教学模块（课程计划、演讲、活动和作业）。

The proposed research aims to understand how plant-feeding insects adapt to their host plants and the extent to which this process leads to the formation of new species in nature. Whereas most pine sawflies feed only on a single type of pine, the redheaded pine sawfly (RHPS) is a major pest of multiple pine species throughout eastern North America. Using a combination of fieldwork, laboratory experiments, and DNA sequencing, the proposed project will determine whether: (1) RHPS are adapted to different pine species, (2) RHPS from different pines are genetically distinct, and (3) RHPS from different pines can produce offspring together, which will indicate whether these are distinct, unrecognized species.Comprising ~25% of all species, plant-feeding insects are among the most diverse organisms on Earth. By describing how insects adapt to host plants and determining the link between adaptation and species formation, the proposed research will help explain the origin of a sizeable fraction of biodiversity. At an applied level, determining whether RHPS is comprised of multiple unrecognized species will have direct implications for managing outbreaks of this destructive pest. Additionally, this project's integrative nature provides an ideal training environment for undergraduate and graduate students. Finally, because host plant adaptation is an intuitive process and RHPS is part of the local fauna, this research can be used to convey basic evolutionary principles to Biology students. To this end, a related teaching module (lesson plans, presentations, activities, and assignments) will be developed and assessed in high schools in eastern Kentucky.