Exploring ecology using museum specimen sequencing in cerambycid beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Many cerambycid taxa are rarely collected and are only known from small numbers of museum specimens. These dried specimens can provide substantial genetic material if using modern methods focused on short pieces of DNA. Evolutionary biologists now have the ability to sample inaccessible, rare, or even extinct taxa for phylogenetic and other purposes. These specimens can provide direct evidence of ecological associations, connect larvae of differing lifestyles to adults, and form the dataset for a phylogeny that explores the evolution of varied ecological patterns. I will discuss ongoing cerambycid projects and how they have benefitted from adding museum samples.