Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2005) 19, 66-71

A. Behbahani, T.J. Dutton, N. Davies, H. Townson and S.P. Sinkins (2005)
Population differentiation and Wolbachia phylogeny in mosquitoes of the Aedes scutellaris group
Medical and Veterinary Entomology 19 (1), 66-71
Abstract: Mosquito species of the Aedes (Stegomyia) scutellaris (Walker) group (Diptera: Culicidae) are distributed across many islands of the South Pacific and include major regional vectors of filariasis, such as Aedes polynesiensis (Marks). Analysis of populations of Ae. polynesiensis at the extremes of its range, from Fiji and from Moorea, French Polynesia, using the rDNA ITS2 (internal transcribed spacer 2) region and six microsatellite markers showed considerable genetic differentiation between them (FST = 0.298 - 0.357). Phylogenetic analysis of the Wolbachia endosymbionts in three members of the complex revealed that based on the wsp gene they are all very similar and belong to the Mel subgroup of the A clade, closely related to the Wolbachia strain present in the gall wasp Callyrhytis glandium (Giraud) (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae). By contrast they are only distantly related to the A-clade Wolbachia in Aedes albopictus (Skuse), a species closely allied to the Ae. scutellaris group. There was very low differentiation between the Wolbachia in the Moorea and Fiji populations of Ae. polynesiensis.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Steven P. Sinkins

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aedes polynesiensis		Fiji Islands
	Aedes polynesiensis		French Polynesia
Wolbachia (genus - entomopathogens)	Aedes polynesiensis