To determine the outcome of the combined effects of gene flow, genetic
drift, and selection on the evolution of insecticide-resistance genes
in the mosquito Culex pipiens, samples were collected along three tra
nsects crossing treated and nontreated areas in northern Spain and sou
thern France. Electrophoretic polymorphisms of five presumably neutral
genes disclosed that differentiation among samples was low, and that
both Wright F-statistics and Slatkin private-alleles methods provided
a high estimate for Nm. In contrast, there was a strong differentiatio
n in the distribution of resistance genes closely associated with inse
cticide treatments. These divergent situations are explained in relati
on to both the very recent origin of some resistance genes that are st
ill localized geographically (A2-B2 and C1), and the high fitness cost
of the older and ubiquitous ones in nontreated areas (Al, A4-B4, and
Ace(R)).