Mitochondrial DNA Variation among Worldwide Populations of Gypsy Moths, Lymantria dispar

Gypsy moth populations from Japan, mainland Asia, Europe, Tunisia, and North America were analyzed for variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from three gene regions. These samples resolve into four groups, representing gypsy moths from (1) Okinawa, Japan, (2) Hokkaido, Japan, (3) Honshu and Kyushu, Japan and mainland Asia, and (4) Europe, Tunisia, and North America. Some patterns of geographic variation observed for mtDNA (for example, the distinctiveness of gypsy moths from Hokkaido, Japan) coincide with those observed by Goldschmidt from analyses of morphology, life history, and intersexuality. Other patterns (relative sequence homogeneity across Asia, Honshu, and Kyushu and reduced levels of variation in mainland Japan) do not.