An award is made to the University of Florida to assess evolutionary relationships and the evolution of feeding habits in vampire moths. Skin piercing and blood feeding are restricted to a single group of moths. Ten Calyptra species have been documented feeding on blood under both natural or laboratory conditions; the remaining species are obligatory fruit piercers. This study will examine the evolutionary relationships between fruit-piercing and blood-feeding moths using morphological and DNA data. The phylogeny will test the hypothesis of a directional progression of feeding types from fruit piercing to skin piercing and blood feeding in these moths and determine whether mouthpart morphology is correlated with feeding behavior.
Studies of the evolution of behavior in insects have primarily focused on the evolution of communication, mating systems and sociality. This project will examine the evolution of feeding behavior, which is not only poorly studied across animal groups in general, but could provide valuable insights into the evolution of animal behavior through its use as a new and novel system that likely evolved under unique ecological, physiological and developmental constraints. Scientific products of this study will include web-accessible original species descriptions, illustrations, and an updated classification. This information will be valuable for educational outreach and future studies in physiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.
