Constructing a database of insect life histories to understand their evolutionary history

Recent work has shown that a key evolutionary innovation, metamorphosis, has led to an increase in insect diversification rates. However, the mechanism by which this has occurred is still unknown. One possibility is that metamorphosis enabled a shift in basic features of insect life histories, such as increased rate of development, reduction in body size, or expansion of the ecological niche. To test this, and other hypotheses about insect life history evolution, a database on insect life history traits is needed with broad taxonomic coverage, but despite some targeted but taxonomically limited examples within the insects, and despite equivalent databases on e.g. fish and mammals, so far no such resource exists. This project will build on existing taxonomically restricted datasets for insects to provide an ongoing resource for future research on insect life histories that can be used to address fundamental questions about the evolution of the group. The project would be suitable for a student with an interest or experience in biodiversity, taxonomy or phylogenetics, and data analysis.