This award will support a two-year U.S.-Japan cooperative research project between Dr. David Furth, Department of Entomology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, and Professor Kunio Suzuki, Department of Biology, Toyama University, Japan. The project involves joint study of the insect specimens housed in Japan, focusing on the collections of chrysomelids, including especially the so-called "flea beetles" of subfamily Alticinae. The investigators will undertake to upgrade the basic taxonomy of the group by describing the reliable morphological characters for distinguishing species and genera. Dr. Furth and Professor Suzuki are experts on chrysomelid morphology and systematics, especially with the characters to be used in this character congruence study. Dr. Furth will spend three months travelling in Japan with Professor Suzuki to study the Asian flea beetle genera available in collections in Japan. This study will demonstrate the usefulness of correlation of characters (congruence) to phylogenetic research in systematic biology and will eluicdate the Galerucinae/Alticinae relationship and provide the foundation for creating a tribal system in the Alticinae.
