The Project
Despite being frequently mesmerized and fascinated by the diversity of life on Earth, humans are also responsible for its rapid loss. It is essential that we recognize the amazing biodiversity around us as well as the threats it faces, and scientific inquiry is crucial if we are to acquire the necessary knowledge. However, there is still very much about our world that we do not know.
In this project, we will investigate the effects of habitat alterations on phylogenetic and trait biodiversity in the charismatic leaf-footed bugs (Hemiptera: Coreidae) in Swaziland and South Africa. Many species of leaf-footed bugs possess enlarged, spiny hind legs that males use as weapons in contests over access to females. The diversity of these sexually selected, weaponized hind legs in leaf-footed bugs is huge; so much so that it rivals that of African antelope horns.
To our knowledge, no research has been done yet, on any animal, to examine how human-altered environments affect sexually selected traits. However, we do know that habitat change is often associated with the loss of other traits, both in plants and a few vertebrates. We expect different types and shapes of sexually selected weapons to be lost unevenly. The biodiverse hind leg weapons of leaf-footed bugs are an excellent model to test the extent to which this happens and to examine how differences in habitat use can affect the uneven loss of such sexually selected traits.
This spring, we will spend six weeks in Southern Africa, collecting leaf-footed bug specimens of as many different species as possible, as well as data about their host plants and their fighting behavior. The specimens and data we gather will contribute to a larger, ongoing study of the evolutionary history of the leaf-footed bug family. Genomic data will be used to build a phylogeny. Once assembled, this phylogeny will allow us to learn more about sexual selection in this group and investigate questions such as when certain traits evolved, how many times they evolved independently, and whether the evolution of different traits is correlated with any behaviors or with host plants or plant structures used by the insects.
Regardless of our potential findings, we expect our work to open new lines of inquiry and stimulate new research. Our goals are not only to expand current scientific knowledge on our topic by producing peer-reviewed articles, but also to contribute to the hands-on training of students from both Swaziland and the United States and to provide unique educational experiences for undergraduate classrooms. We have started this blog as a way to disseminate our results to broad audiences as well as sharing our journey.