时间：2024年11月5日14:30-17:30

地点：植保楼3060A会议室

报告简介：

1. Presentation Title: Pattern and process in the global evolution of tritrophic communities of trees, galls and parasitoids

Summary:Communities comprising plants, insect herbivores, and their parasitoid natural enemies make up an estimated 50% of described species. Despite their dominant contribution to terrestrial species richness, the processes that structure these hyperdiverse associations remain poorly understood. This talk  introduces insect-induced galls on Fagaceae trees as a valuable study system for understanding the assembly and evolution of these communities. I will describe ongoing research from Europe, the US and China that explore the extent to which 'bottom-up' host plant effects structure interactions between higher trophic levels, and to which 'top down' effects imposed by parasitoids shape herbivore phenotypes. I  outline the applied value of such information in predicting species associations relevant to pest management and biological control.

Prof Graham Stone  Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh

Biography:Graham Stone is Professor of Ecology at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at Edinburgh University. His research focuses on insect-plant interactions, particularly pollination and the evolution, adaptive significance and development of insect-induced galls. His research group is currently seeking to identify the processes driving the striking diversity of gall structures induced by cynipid wasps on oaks and other Fagaceae. He has been working on Sichuan cynipid communities with colleagues in the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Natural Resources Sciences since 2017.

2. Presentation Title: Evolving perspectives in Hymenoptera systematics: Bridging fossils and genomes across time

Summary: The recent advances in sequencing technologies, phylogenomics and divergence dating methods has led to this invited review paper. Here we critically examined the impact of these latest developments on the Hymenoptera phylogeny and our understanding of the timing of Hymenoptera evolution, while identifying the current methodological constraints and persistent knowledge gaps that warrant further investigation. Our review highlights the lack of consensus among the backbone phylogeny of Hymenoptera between key phylogenomic studies, as the higher-level phylogeny remains unresolved in key nodes such as the relationships among Eusymphyta, the relationships within the Infraorder Proctotrupomorpha and the placements of the superfamilies Ichneumonoidea, Ceraphronoidea and Vespoidea. Furthermore, we underline the huge variation in divergence age estimates for Hymenoptera and detect several major gaps and/or disagreements between the fossil record and available age estimates, either due to the poorly studied fossil record or problematic age estimates, or both. To better understand the timing of Hymenoptera evolution and the role of key diversification factors, we provide recommendations on ways to reconcile conflicts in order to bridge fossils, morphology and genomes across time.

Miles Zhang, PhD    Visiting Scientist, Sichuan University

Biography:My journey into the world of Hymenoptera began during my MSc degree at Laurentian University in Canada, where I focused on parasitoids of rose gall wasps. I started my PhD at the University of Manitoba before relocating with my supervisor to the University of Central Florida, where I completed my degree on the taxonomy, systematics, and evolution of braconid wasps. After that, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florida on ant phylogenomics and at the USDA Systematic Entomology Lab/Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History on the taxonomy and phylogenomics of parasitoid wasps. I recently completed a Marie Curie fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, where I worked to resolve the tritrophic interactions between plants, gall wasps, and their natural enemies. Currently, I am a visiting scientist at Sichuan University, focusing on improving the taxonomic knowledge of Asian gall wasp communities.

欢迎各位老师同学参加！