GEOGRAPHY-LINKED PHYLOGENY OF THE DAMASTER GROUND BEETLES INFERRED FROM MITOCHONDRIAL ND5 GENE-SEQUENCES

We have constructed phylogenetic trees based on sequence comparisons o f mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 gene for 11 Damaster blap toides specimens from various localities of Japan. The specimens consi st of eight ''subspecies.'' Coptolabrus fruhstorferi, Acoptolabrus geh inii, and Procrustes kolbei, which are taxonomically related to Damast er, have also been analyzed for comparison. Damaster is more related t o Acoptolabrus than to Coptolabrus in the ND5 trees, in contrast to th e generally accepted view that Damaster is derived from Coptolabrus, w hereas Acoptolabrus is the sister group of Damaster/Coptolabrus. The e mergence of Procrustes is much earlier than the rest of the genera. Th e Damaster subspecies are monophyletic. Four major lineages are recogn ized, which are geography linked within the Japanese archipelago. The origin and diversification process have been discussed based on these findings.