Phylogeny and Evolution of Antlions and their Allies: Neuroptera: Myrmeleontiodea

蚁狮及其盟友的系统发育和进化：脉翅目：蚁总科

• 批准号: 9407165
• 负责人: John Oswald
• 金额: $ 1.95万
• 依托单位: Smithsonian Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-12-15 至 1997-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9407165&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Phylogeny; Evolution; Antlions; their; Allies

9407165 Oswald Pit-building antlions have fascinated generations of amateur and professional biologists with their intriguing behavior of building conical pit-fall traps in loose sand or soil to capture small ground-walking prey. These animals are the larvae of a very successful group of approximately 1700 species of small to medium sized insect predators assigned to the family Myrmeleontidae. It has been suggested that an important factor in the diversification of this group of insects was the development by their larvae of the ability to adapt to living in loose granular substrata, particularly sand. These substrata may have provided a relatively unoccupied ecological zone or niche into which antlions could speciate because relatively few other animals had previously been able to effectively utilize such environments. The research supported by this grant will test this empty niche hypothesis by examining the distributions of morphological characters among numerous species of antlions and other closely related insects. Evidence supporting the hypothesis will have been found, if the first appearance of characters that adapt antlions to a life in granular substrata correlates with the origin of this group. %%% This study will provide important information for improving antlion classification, interpreting historical (phylogenetic) relationships among major groups of antlions and related groups, and studying the origin and development of animal behaviors. The study is one component of a longer-term research program aimed at improving our knowledge of relationships among the 17 families of the insect order Neuroptera (lacewings), an important group of predatory insects that includes several subgroups that are of interest for their potential use in the biological control of crop and ornamental plant pests. ***

9407165 Oswald 筑坑蚁狮以其在松散的沙子或土壤中建造圆锥形陷坑捕捉地面行走的小型猎物的有趣行为，令一代又一代的业余和专业生物学家着迷。 这些动物是一个非常成功的群体的幼虫，该群体由大约 1700 种中小型昆虫捕食者组成，属于 Myrmeleontidae 科。 有人认为，这组昆虫多样化的一个重要因素是它们的幼虫发展出适应松散颗粒基质（特别是沙子）生活的能力。 这些基质可能提供了一个相对空闲的生态区或生态位，蚁狮可以在其中形成物种，因为以前相对较少的其他动物能够有效地利用这样的环境。 这笔赠款支持的研究将通过检查众多蚁狮和其他密切相关的昆虫物种的形态特征分布来测试这一空位假设。 如果使蚁狮适应粒状基质生活的特征的首次出现与该群体的起源相关，那么就会找到支持这一假设的证据。 %%% 这项研究将为改进蚁狮分类、解释蚁狮主要类群和相关类群之间的历史（系统发育）关系以及研究动物行为的起源和发展提供重要信息。 这项研究是一项长期研究计划的一部分，旨在提高我们对神经翅目（草翅目）昆虫 17 个科之间关系的了解，这是一个重要的捕食性昆虫群体，其中包括几个对其潜在用途感兴趣的亚类作物和观赏植物害虫的生物防治。 ***