Formation of the Japanese carabina fauna inferred from a phylogenetic treeof mitochondrial ND5 gene sequences (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial ND5 gene comparisons and t he geohistory of the Japanese Islands suggest that each Japanese species be longing to the subtribe Carabina has its own history for the establishment of its present habitat in the Japanese Islands. It can be roughly classifie d into two categories: (1) species which were derived from the ancestry tha t inhabited ancient Japan at the time of its split from the Eurasian Contin ent [ca, 15 million years ago (MYA)], followed by diversification within th e Japanese Islands; and (2) species which invaded Hokkaido from the Eurasia n Continent through land-bridges from Sakhalin and/ or the Kuriles or from western Japan from the Korean Peninsula during the glacial era (<2 MYA).