Collaborative Research: An integrative approach to understanding the evolution and systematics of Chalcidoidea: A recent megaradiation of Hymenoptera

合作研究：了解小球纲进化和系统学的综合方法：膜翅目最近的大辐射

• 批准号: 1555808
• 负责人: John Heraty
• 金额: $ 92.81万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-03-01 至 2021-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1555808&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; integrative; approach; understanding

Chalcidoidea (jewel wasps) are among the most species rich, ecologically important, and biologically diverse groups of terrestrial organisms. Their diversity is staggering, with more than 500,000 species thought to exist. These minute wasps (mostly 1-2 mm in size) are numerically abundant and common in almost every habitat. The smallest of these wasps are smaller than a typical single-celled organism, and yet the adults can fly, locate their hosts, deposit their eggs, and as larvae, consume their insect hosts. Most chalcidoid wasps are parasitoids; they feed on their insect hosts, eventually killing them. A few groups have also evolved to attack plant hosts and some serve as pollinators. Species attack all life stages from eggs to adults, and live and feed either internally or externally. Some are parasitoids of other parasitoids and some may even feed on their own species. Because they kill other insects, these wasps are extremely important for the control of pests of agricultural and forest crops, as well as vectors of human disease and veterinary pests. The economic importance of these wasps in pest management is unparalleled. They are widely used in biological control programs against major pests, with outcomes documented to result in decreases in pesticide, increases in yield, and in landmark cases direct savings of billions of dollars or permanent pest control. The evolutionary events leading to this enormous diversity in morphology, biology and rates of diversification are poorly understood, leading to an artificial system of taxonomic classification. In this research project, researchers will use a diverse array of molecular, morphological and bioinformatics approaches to develop a solid understanding of the hierarchy of relationships across the entire group. These relationships will then be used to reclassify major groups to reflect common ancestry, to provide a framework for a web-accessible portal to manage and deliver information on their diverse biology, and to explore the evolutionary changes that have driven and shaped this enormous radiation of terrestrial insects.The objectives of the research project are to 1) generate a robust molecular phylogeny of the Chalcidoidea using new data from transcriptomes and targeted DNA enrichment for over 400 species, 2) generate morphological data for over 200 fossils from Eocene and Cretaceous amber and combine these with a comprehensive morphological data set for extant taxa, 3) develop a revised classification of Chalcidoidea in book form through a series of workshops and worldwide collaborations, and 4) make available information on the taxonomy, biology and distribution of over 31,000 available names and information in over 40,000 references. The project will train two postdoctoral researchers, one graduate student and several undergraduates. To involve the wider scientific community, a worldwide group of biocontrol researchers and taxonomists will develop a new classification for Chalcidoidea. With groups of Research and Extension Specialists, the project will develop posters, fliers, specimen education kits, and other educational materials for use in the classroom and by extension specialists, agricultural advisors, master naturalists and master gardeners, and the general public to develop a greater interest and understanding of this charismatic and and important group of insects.

沙尔西多亚（珠宝黄蜂）是富含生物学重要性和生物学上多样化的陆地生物的种类中最多的物种之一。它们的多样性令人惊叹，被认为存在500,000多种。在几乎每个栖息地中，这些微小的黄蜂（大部分是1-2毫米）在数值上很丰富且常见。这些黄蜂中最小的是比典型的单细胞生物小，但是成年人可以飞行，定位宿主，沉积卵子，并作为幼虫消耗其昆虫宿主。大多数辣椒质黄蜂是寄生虫。他们以昆虫宿主为食，最终杀死了他们。几个小组也进化为攻击植物宿主，有些则是传粉媒介。物种攻击从卵到成年人的所有生命阶段，并在内部或外部生活和喂养。有些是其他寄生虫的寄生虫，有些甚至可能以自己的物种为食。因为它们杀死了其他昆虫，所以这些黄蜂对于控制农业和森林作物的害虫以及人类疾病和兽医害虫的媒介非常重要。这些黄蜂在害虫管理中的经济重要性是无与伦比的。它们被广泛用于针对主要有害生物的生物控制计划中，结果记录的结果可导致农药减少，产量增加，而在具有里程碑意义的情况下，直接节省了数十亿美元或永久性的害虫控制。人们对形态学，生物学和多样化率的这种巨大多样性的进化事件知之甚少，从而导致人工分类分类体系。在该研究项目中，研究人员将使用各种各样的分子，形态和生物信息学方法来对整个小组之间关系的层次结构有牢固的了解。然后，这些关系将用于重新分类主要群体，以反映共同的祖先，为网络接近的门户提供一个框架，以管理和传递有关其多样化生物学的信息，并探索已经驱动和塑造了这种巨大的地面昆虫的进化变化。富集超过400种，2）生成了来自始新世和白垩纪琥珀色的200多种化石的形态数据，并将其与现有分类单元的全面形态数据集相结合，3）3）通过一系列的工作室和全球合作以及40,000个insements和31，0000 ,000个insection和31，0000 ,000个nosemention和31，0000 ,000个insements and intery insprol和全球提供了一系列的书籍，以书本形式进行了修订的分类，并获得了31，000年的信息。该项目将培训两名博士后研究人员，一名研究生和几名本科生。为了让更广泛的科学界参与，全球生物防治研究人员和分类学家将为Chalcidoidea开发新的分类。借助研究和扩展专家，该项目将开发海报，传单，标本教育工具包和其他教育材料，用于在课堂上使用，并通过扩展专家，农业顾问，大师自然主义者和大师园丁以及公众对这种有魅力的和重要的昆虫群体产生更大的兴趣和理解。