Goals of the Anomaline Network

The scarab beetle tribe Anomalini is an incredibly species-rich group that is distributed worldwide. The Anomalini is comprised of approximately 2,000 species (twice the number of described species of viruses or half the number of described species of mammals worldwide). Additionally, the Anomalini contains one of the largest genera in the animal kingdom, the genus Anomala, which includes about 1,000 species worldwide. Numerous species of anomalines are agricultural pests and have the potential of becoming invasive species if they are introduced to new regions. Today’s global markets heighten our need to understand the systematics (the study of biodiversity including taxonomy, classification, and relationships) of this important group and predict potential pest species.

The enormous size of the Anomalini, in combination with the high variability of its morphological characters, has confounded research on the group. A world-wide collaborative approach is needed in order to advance our knowledge of this important group of insects.

The Anomaline Network facilitates collaboration of entomologists in numerous fields: agriculture, ecology, systematics, conservation, behavior, biological control, and evolutionary biology, to name a few. Working together, we can achieve a better understanding of the needs of the community. One goal is to conduct molecular phylogenetic research on all Anomalini. Results of this research will create a foundation for understanding the evolution of the group and will provide a predictive framework for addressing: (1) potential introduced pest species, (2) evolution of species and variation, (3) adaptive radiation, and (4) assessment of informative versus uninformative morphological characters in this group.