Ancient enemies: Phylogenomics of the Culicidae reveals ancient radiations

The Culicidae are among the deadliest animals on Earth, responsible for immense human suffering due to the numerous vector-borne diseases they transmit. Although there are more than 3500 described species of mosquitoes, the vast majority of research has focused on a handful of species responsible for epidemics of disease, such as Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae. As such, our evolutionary understanding of mosquitoes lags behind many other important insect groups.  This lack of knowledge prohibits analyses of key vector phenotypes, such as host association and vector competence, and complicates taxonomy and broader systematics.  To date, there have been only limited studies utilizing molecular data in this family, and morphology has at times provided conflicting information on deeper relationships among genera in the Culicidae. Here, we present the results of the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the Culicidae to date, based on genomic data.  We leverage existing genomic resources and new sequence capture data from 200 species to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of major genera in the family.  Then, we use this phylogenomic dataset to date the key divergence times in this group, and evaluate those divergence in context with major vertebrate lineages to provide insight into the evolution of the world's deadliest animals.