Systematics of the higher flies (Diptera)

尽管苍蝇无处不在，数量丰富，具有生态/经济重要性，但它们是最不为人所知的宏观生物之一。这项拟议的研究将梳理几个鲜为人知的苍蝇群体的身份和关系，并将研究结果纳入彻底的分类学修订。正在使用专门的收集技术、观察和图像记录来收集研究收藏品，并从世界各地的主要博物馆借阅标本。随着单系群(属)的确定，将根据大量的形态特征建立分类框架，对它们进行彻底修改，重点放在雄性和雌性末端的复杂内部形态上。在这项研究过程中，已经发现了数百个新种，几个新属，甚至一个新科，并将其置于适当的分类框架中。这样的框架可以识别组成分类群，开发检索表，并构建系统发育假说。在基于形态的框架中加入行为和分子特征可以解决问题领域，并增加系统发育假说的稳健性。这项工作将传统显微镜与新的数字技术和仔细的实地工作相结合，对正在研究的苍蝇家族进行了全面的、图文并茂的处理。结果将在网络和主要出版物上广泛提供。

Despite their ubiquity, abundance and ecological/economic importance, flies are among the least-known macroscopic organisms. The proposed research will sort out the identity and relationships of several poorly-known groups of flies, incorporating the research results into thorough taxonomic revisions. Study collections are being assembled using specialized collecting techniques, observation and image recording supplemented by loans of specimens from major museums throughout the world. As monophyletic groups (genera) are identified, they will be thoroughly revised by building taxonomic frameworks on the basis of large sets of morphological characters, with an emphasis on the complex internal morphology of the male and female terminalia. Hundreds of new species, several new genera, and even a new family have already been discovered and placed onto appropriate taxonomic frameworks in the course of this research program. Such frameworks allow for the identification of component taxa, the development of keys, and the construction of phylogenetic hypotheses. The addition of behavioral and molecular characters to a morphology-based framework can resolve problem areas and increase the robustness of phylogenetic hypotheses. This work combines traditional microscopy with new digital technology and careful field work to produce comprehensive, richly illustrated treatments of the fly families under study. Results will be made widely available on the web as well as in primary publications.