Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

26 May, 01 PM - 27 May, 01 PM

This research seeks to characterize the roles of biogeography, host plant associations, and congeneric interactions in biological diversification. While the life history details are complex, a diverse group of North American galling insects, including Tamalia aphids, is host to non-galling species (called inquilines) to which they are closely related. Both parasitism and competition govern their interactions, and there is evidence of cryptic host-plant races of both inquilines and their host gall-inducers, providing the opportunity to investigate the roles of these ecological interactions in generating evolutionary patterns of diversification. Specific aims of the proposed research 1) Was the origin of inquilinism in Tamalia galling aphids associated with a host-plant shift, and does this reflect the phylogeographic history of the host-plant clade? 2) What is the phylogenetic evidence for host-race formation in gall-inducers and inquilines? Is the apparently greater rate of host-race formation in inquilines upheld across large geographic areas and over a wide range of host plants? 3) What roles might population structure play in the diversification of inquilines? Is there ecological evidence for differential dispersal rates which might accelerate diversification rates in inquilines?

Visit #21620 @Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

Approved

Under Project # 21856 | Research

Three novel Tamalia (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Tamaliinae) species associated with leaf galls on Arbutus, Arctostaphylos, and Comarostaphylis shrubs (Ericaceae) in North America

faculty - California State University (CSU), Chico

Reservation Members(s)

Donald Miller May 26 - 27, 2010 (2 days)

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Mayhew housing facilities 1 May 26 - 27, 2010