Charles Mitter

Dr. Charles Mitter, Professor of Entomology

Entomology

Professor and Chair

Contact

Email: cmitter@umd.edu
Office Phone: 301-405-3912
Fax: 301-314-9290
Office Address: 4112 Plant Sciences Building

Teaching

ENTM 622, Principles of Systematics, fall semester odd years.
ENTM 798, Seminar in Biosystematics, every semester.

Graduate Program Affiliations

  • Entomology
  • BISI - Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, & Systematics (BEES)

Research Interests

My central long-term quest has been to help explain the extraordinary
diversity of herbivorous insects and their interactions with plants.
With my students and other collaborators I have sought to advance the
phylogenetic/ historical approach to this question, using Ehrlich and
Raven's model of coevolution as a conceptual framework. The heuristic
value of that model, which may be rarely applicable in its original
form, is its embodiment of multiple neo-Darwinian themes, each of
interest in its own right, which have been taken up anew in the modern
re-embrace of evolutionary history. Our group has estimated phylogenies
for a variety of insect groups, and used these in combination with
literature syntheses to examine three broad issues implicit in
"co-evolution" sensu Ehrlich and Raven: rates and patterns of evolution
of insect host use traits; the marks of long-term history in
contemporary insect/plant interactions; and the effects of those
interactions on diversification rates.

Over the past decade, much of my effort has gone into a collaboration with J. Regier
and others on molecular phylogenetic studies of the Lepidoptera, the
largest radiation of insect herbivores (165,000+ species). Our previous
work focused on the primitive (non-ditrysian) lepidopteran lineages,
and on the advanced superfamilies Noctuoidea and Bombycoidea. Most
recently, under support from the NSF Assembling the Tree of Life
program, we have joined with lepidopterists around the world in a
community-based Tree of Life project, LepTree,
one goal of which is a robust estimate of relationships among all 127
lepidopteran families. All of these studies are aimed ultimately at
identifying and understanding major transitions in lepidopteran
ecology, particularly larval feeding habits, and their evolutionary
consequences.

Recent Publications

Regier, J.C., A. Zwick, M. P.Cummings, A. Y. Kawahara, S. Cho, S. Weller, A. Roe, J. Baixeras, J. W. Brown, C. Parr, D. R. Davis, M. Epstein, W. Hallwachs, A. Hausmann, D. H. Janzen, I. J. Kitching, M. A. Solis, S.-H. Yen, A. L. Bazinet, and C. Mitter. 2009. Toward reconstructing the evolution of advanced moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia): an initial molecular study. BMC Evolutionary Biology, in press. final draft  

Winkler, I.S., C. Mitter, and S. Scheffer. 2009. Repeated climate-linked host shifts promoted diversification in a temperate clade of leafmining flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, on line 24 Sept 2009. Article.  Supplementary materials.

Kawahara, A. Y., A. A. Mignault, J. C. Regier, I. J. Kitching and C. Mitter. 2009. Phylogeny and biogeography of hawkmoths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae): evidence from five nuclear genes. PLoS One 4(5): e5719. 

Winker, I. S., S. Scheffer and C. Mitter. 2009. Molecular phylogeny and systematics in leafmining flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae): Delimitation of Phytomyza Fallén sensu lato and its species groups, with new insights on genitalic and host-use evolution. Systematic Entomology 34: 260-292 

Cho, S., A. Mitchell, C. Mitter, J. Regier, M. Matthews and R. Robertson. 2008. Molecular phylogenetics of heliothine moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Heliothinae), with comments on the evolution of host range and pest status. Systematic Entomology 49: 581-594 

Davis, S.R., P. Gentili-Poole and C. Mitter. 2008. A revision of the Cossulinae of Costa Rica and cladistic analysis of the world species (Lepidoptera: Cossidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154: 222–277. 

Regier, J.C., C.P. Cook, C. Mitter, and A. Hussey. 2008. A phylogenetic study of the "bombycoid complex" (Lepidoptera) using five protein-coding nuclear genes, with comments on the problem of macrolepidopteran phylogeny. Systematic Entomology 33: 175-189. 

Regier, J. C., M.C. Grant, R.S. Peigler, C. Mitter, C. P. Cook, and R. Rougerie. 2008. Phylogenetic relationships of wild silkmoths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) inferred from four protein-coding nuclear genes. Systematic Entomology 33: 219-228. 

Winkler, I. S., and C. Mitter. 2008. The phylogenetic dimension of insect/plant interactions: a summary of recent evidence. Pp.240-263 In: K. Tillmon, ed., Specialization, Speciation, and Radiation: The Evolutionary Biology of Herbivorous Insects. University of California Press.   Insect/Plant Meta-Phylogenetics Web Page- includes chapter

Desjardins, C. A., J. C. Regier, and C. Mitter. 2007. Phylogeny of pteromalid parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae): Initial evidence from four protein-coding nuclear genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 45: 454-469. 

Mitchell, A., C. Mitter and J.C. Regier. 2006. Systematics and evolution of the cutworm moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): evidence from two protein-coding nuclear genes. Systematic Entomology 31: 21- 46. 

Regier, J. C., U. Paukstadt, L. Paukstadt, C. Mitter and R. S. Peigler. 2005. Phylogenetics of eggshell morphogenesis in Antheraea (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae): Unique origin and repeated reduction of the aeropyle crown. Systematic Biology 54: 254-267.

Fagan, W. F., E. Siemann, C. Mitter, R. F. Denno, A. F. Huberty, H. A. Woods, and J. J. Elser. 2002. Nitrogen in insects: Implications for trophic complexity and species diversification. American Naturalist 160: 784-802. 

Regier, J.C., C. Mitter, R. S. Peigler, and T. P. Friedlander. 2002. Monophyly, composition and tribal relationships of Saturniinae (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae): Evidence from two nuclear genes. Insect Systematics and Evolution 33: 9-21. 

Regier, J. C., C. Mitter, T. P. Friedlander, and R. S. Peigler. 2001. Phylogenetic relationships and evolution of hostplant use in Sphingidae (Lepidoptera): Initial evidence from two nuclear genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20:311-325. 

Yang, M., C. Mitter, and D. R. Miller. 2001. First incidence of inquilinism in galling psyllids, with a description of the new inquiline species (Insecta, Hemiptera, Psylloidea, Psyllidae, Spondyliaspidinae). Zoologica Scripta 30: 97-113. 

Mitchell, A., C. Mitter, and J. C. Regier. 2000. More taxa or more characters revisited: combining data from nuclear protein-encoding genes for phylogenetic analyses of Noctuoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera). Systematic Biology 49: 202-224. 

Wiegmann, B.M., C. Mitter, J. C. Regier, T. P. Friedlander, D. M. Wagner, and E. S. Nielsen. 2000. Nuclear genes resolve Mesozoic-aged divergences in the insect order Lepidoptera. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 15: 242-259.

Regier, J. C., C. Mitter, R. S. Peigler, and T. P. Friedlander. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships in Lasiocampidae (Lepidoptera): initial evidence from elongation factor-1α sequences. Journal of Insect Systematics and Evolution 31: 179-186.

Powell, J.A., C. Mitter and B.D. Farrell. 1998. Evolution of larval feeding habits in Lepidoptera. In: N. P. Kristensen, ed., Handbook of Zoology. Lepidoptera, Volume 1: Systematics and Evolution.  

Farrell, B.D., and C. Mitter. 1998. The timing of insect/plant diversification: Might Tetraopes (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Asclepias (Asclepiadaceae) have co-evolved? Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 63: 553-577.

Friedlander, T.P., K.R. Horst, J.C. Regier, C. Mitter, R.S. Peigler, and Q.Q. Fang. 1998. Two nuclear genes yield concordant relationships within Attacini (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae). Mol. Phyl. Evol. 9: 131-140. 

Regier, J. C., Q. Q. Fang, C. Mitter, R. S. Peigler, T. P. Friedlander, and M. A. Solis. 1998. Evolution and phylogenetic utility of the period gene in Lepidoptera. Molecular Biology and Evolution 15: 1172-1182.  

Fang, Q., S. Cho, J. Regier, C. Mitter, M. Matthews, R. Poole, T. Friedlander, and S. Zhao. 1997. A new nuclear gene for insect phylogenetics: Dopa decarboxylase is informative of relationships within Heliothinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Systematic Biology 46: 269-283. 

Cho, S., Mitchell, A., Regier, J.C., Mitter, C., Poole, R.W., Friedlander, T.P., and Zhao, S. 1995. A highly conserved nuclear gene for low-level phylogenetics: Elongation factor-1 alpha recovers morphology-based tree for heliothine moths. Mol. Biol. Evol. 12:650-656.

Wiegmann, B.M., C. Mitter, and B. Farrell. 1993. Diversification of carnivorous parasitic insects: Extraordinary radiation, or specialized dead end? American Naturalist 142:737-754.

Poole, R.W.,C. Mitter and M. Huettel. 1993. A revision and cladistic analysis of the Heliothis virescens group (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) with a preliminary morphometric analysis of H. virescens. Miss. Agric. For. Exp. Stn. Bull. Miss. Entomol. Mus. Ser. 4:1-51. 

Mitter, C., and B.D. Farrell. 1991. Macroevolutionary aspects of insect/plant interactions. pp. 35-78, In Insect/Plant Interactions, vol. 3, E. Bernays, ed. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 

Mitter, C., B. Farrell, and B. Wiegmann. 1988. The phylogenetic study of adaptive radiation: Has phytophagy promoted insect diversification? The American Naturalist 132:107-128. 

 


Education

B.S., Stanford University, 1970 (Biological Sciences)
Ph.D., Stony Brook University, 1977 (Biological Sciences)