Genetic basis of host sifts in phytophagous insects

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Extent of genetic differentiation between two sympatric ladybird beetles, Henosepilachna niponica and H. yasutomii, which are thought to be reproductively isolated from each other by their host preferences alone, was assessed using microsatellite markers established in this project. The analyzed data revealed that the genetic variation both within and between species were very low. These results suggest that the speciation of two species would have occurred so recently with short time that there is little genetic differentiation between them, except for a number of genes associated with their host preferences.