Dissertation
Host plant association and evolution in a genus of specialist fruit flies
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2023
DOI: 10.25820/etd.006971
Abstract
The ecology of animals can shape their evolutionary histories. For specialist parasitic insects, whose environment is largely defined by their association with a specific host, interactions with hosts can mediate morphological, behavioral, or physiological changes, or even initiate speciation. In this dissertation, I use a genus of specialist fruit flies (Strauzia) to explore several ways in which the evolutionary histories of insects and host plants interact. First, using a reduced-representation genomic sequencing approach, I infer the first comprehensive phylogeny of genus Strauzia and demonstrate that Strauzia species have shifted onto the same plant hosts at least twice. Then, I compared wing morphologies in male and female flies across the genus and found that host plant sharing may influence the emergence of novel wing morphologies and sexual dimorphism, the latter a rare occurrence in the Tephritidae. Finally, I used collections of Strauzia longitudinalis from across North America to look for evidence of historical range expansion following the domestication of its plant host, Helianthus tuberosus, as part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex of indigenous agriculture in North America. Together, this work highlights the diversity of evolutionary questions that can be addressed by studying specialist insect species.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Host plant association and evolution in a genus of specialist fruit flies
- Creators
- Alaine C Hippee
- Contributors
- Andrew A Forbes (Advisor)Bin Z He (Committee Member)Stephen D Hendrix (Committee Member)Andrew Kitchen (Committee Member)Maurine Neiman (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Integrated Biology
- Date degree season
- Summer 2023
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.006971
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xii, 176 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2023 Alaine C Hippee
- Language
- English
- Date submitted
- 07/05/2023
- Description illustrations
- illustrations, graphs, tables, maps
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references.
- Public Abstract (ETD)
- The evolution of all organisms on Earth is influenced by their interactions with the surrounding environment. In specialist insects, insect species use a single plant species for survival and reproduction, so that the host plant defines most of the insect’s surrounding environment. This close relationship between specialist insects and their plant hosts can result in changes in insect morphology and behavior, or even generate new species. In this dissertation, I used a genus of specialist fruit flies (Strauzia) to explore several ways in which the evolutionary histories of insects and plant hosts interact. First, I used genomic data to determine how Strauzia species are related to each other and find that on multiple occasions, Strauzia species have moved to different host plants that are already occupied by another Strauzia species, causing host plant sharing among Strauzia species. Then, I compared the wing morphology of male and female flies and found that host plant sharing may influence changes in the wing shapes and patterns of Strauzia, including the emergence of different wing morphologies in males and females of the same species. Finally, I used collections of S. longitudinalis collected from across North America to look for evidence of historical domestication and subsequent range expansion of its plant host, Helianthus tuberosus, as part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex, a region of historical indigenous agriculture in North America. Together, this work highlights the diversity of evolutionary questions that can be addressed by studying specialist insect species.
- Academic Unit
- Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984454435602771
Metrics
15 Record Views