Biomechanical constraints in the structure and function of the noctuid genitalia
Informations
- Funding country
Hungary- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 9/1/2008
- End date
- 12/31/2010
- Budget
- 14,192 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic Programme | Grant | 9/1/2008 | 12/31/2010 | 14,192 EUR |
Abstract
Major aims of the project: 1. discussion of the functional significance of the genital morphological characters relevant to the evolution of the reproductive isolation and in speciation; 2. analysis of the parallel vs convergent responses on similar evolutionary challenges within phylogenetically different noctuid lineages. The achievements of the surveys can result in several new insights in the 'bottom-up' phylogenetics of the trifine Noctuidae groups. Our former revisional works demonstrate the presence of several synapomorphies within large and diverse phylogenetic units, indicating the possible or supposed correlative and co-evolutive changes in the corresponding structures of the male and female genitalia. The emergence of such structures is the consequence of process(es) directed by the constraints of coordinated functions of the adequate parts of the genitalia of the two sexes. Detailed survey of the following questions is planned: 1. Can we support the direct connection between the increase of the species numbers and the polyandry, and with the sperm competition? 2. Can we detect the principle of parsimony in the morphological evolution of the copulatory organs? 3. Whether the similar functional constraints can lead to similar morphological solutions in the 'lock-and-key' structures in phylogenetically distant groups in which processes one can discover some basic biomechanical principles. The material of surveys is supplied mostly by our own former taxonomical revisions based on the collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum Budapest and several other large museum and private collections, the more than 20,000 genital slides made or studied by the authors, thousands of drawings and photos documenting the genitalia of the specimens; most of them available in electronical form. The method of survey is basically classical taxonomic, but using all modern facilities.