Abstract
The species of Phthiriinae are present in all biogeographic regions of the Earth, it is presently composed by 133 recognized valid species distributed in 11 genera. The single previous phylogenetic hypothesis of Phthiriinae presents the subfamily divided in two tribes, Phthiriini Becker, 1913, with seven genera: Acreotrichus Macquart, 1850, Australiphthiria Evenhuis, 1986, Pygocona Hull, 1973, Acreophthiria Evenhuis, 1986, Neacreotrichus Cockerell, 1917, Elektrophthiria Nel, 2006 and Phthiria Meigen, 1820; and Poecilognathini Evenhuis, 1986, which encompasses four genera: Euryphthiria Evenhuis, 1986, Relictiphthiria Evenhuis, 1986, Poecilognathus Jaennicke, 1867 and Tmemophlebia Evenhuis, 1986. The proposed internship is part of an ongoing cladistics analysis of Phthiriinae, and will be carried out at the Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom (NHMUK), for five months, in collaboration with Dr. Erica McAlister, Collections Manager for the Diptera collection at the institution.. The NHMUK it is famous for housing the most important type collection of the world. The main goals of the research internship are: to generate additional data to be incorporated into the phylogenetic reconstruction of Phthiriinae; to provide comprehensive morphological characters to test the monophyly of the subfamily, of its tribes and all included genera; and also to propose a reconstruction of evolutionary relationships of the subfamily. In order to achieve these goals, satisfying the prerequisites pointed on the Ph.D. project for a morphological comparative study and a further inclusion of data on cladistic analysis, the opportunity to visit the most important European's collections is absolutely required. The results will improve the taxonomic knowledge on Phthiriinae through a comprehensive study of external and internal morphology and shed light on the evolutionary significance of species delimitation, providing a solid base to support the genera in the cladistics analysis on the subfamily.Keywords: Phthiriinae, cladistics, taxonomy, internship, NHMUK. (AU)
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