Origin of insect herbivory and angiosperm-feeding in Gondwanaland

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22405009
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: KATO Makoto 京都大学, 人間・環境学研究科(研究院), 教授 (80204494)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KAWAKITA Atsushi 京都大学, 生態学研究センター, 准教授 (80467399) ; SOTA Teiji 京都大学, 大学院理学研究科, 教授 (00192625)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ゴンドワナ大陸 / 植物食 / コケ食 / コバネガ科 / シギアブ科 / 苔類

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Diversity and natural history of herbivorous insects were studied at several moist forests in Gondwanaland. As hotspots where archaic herbivorous insects were recorded, tropical forests at the Peruvian Andes and Amazon headwaters, Nothofagus forests in Chilean Patagonia, and tropical and temperate forests of Eastern Australia and Tasmania were chosen as study sites. Among diverse herbivorous insects, I focused on Micropterigidae (Lepidoptera), Rhagionidae, Cylindritomidae, Chironomidae (Diptera) and Attelabidae (Coleoptera). By molecular phylogenetic analyses and phylogenetic comparisons of plant-feeding habits of these herbivorous insect groups, we explored when and how herbivory, especially bryophyte-feeding, originated in Micropterigidae and Rhagionidae and how plant-manipulation behavior has diversified in Attelabidae.

Free Research Field

生態学