Abai, MR

6th International Congress of Dipterologysibling species and could have a major impact on effective vector controlprograms.Key Words: Anopheles, species complex, Iran, malaria∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗Mitochondrial sequence variation of Aedes albpoictus(Diptera: Culicidae) in JapanOtsuka, Y. & H. TakaokaDepartment of Infectious Disease Control, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Hasama,Yufu city, Oita 879-5593, JapanAedes albopictus (Skuse), a mosquito vector of the dengue fever virus, isoriginated in the Oriental region, and has been reported in more than 25countries of various continents. In Japan, Ae. albopictus is widelydistributed except for the northern part, though its range is expandingnorthwardly. To survey the genetic structure of Ae. albopictus in Japan, weanalyzed mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in 421 base pairs (bp) ofcytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) and in 406 bp of NADHdehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5) among 240 individuals from 12 cities ofJapan. Ten variable sites were found in the CO1 region, and all thevariations were synonymous changes. Seven variable sites were found inthe ND5 region, and 3 of the variations were nonsynonymous changes.Based on the variable sites, 22 haplotypes were identified. Althoughprevious studies showed that populations of Ae. albopictus in Asia had lowlevel of variation in mitochondrial DNA and shared a common haplotype,composition of the haplotypes varied among the cities of Japan, suggestingthat gene flow is moderate between populations in Japan.Key Words: Aedes albopictus, population, genetic variation, Japan,mitochondrial DNA189