Mitochondrial DNA Sequence-Based Population Genetic Structure of the Firefly, Pyrocoelia rufa (Coleoptera: Lampyridae)

The genetic divergence, population genetic structure, and possible speciation of the Korean firefly, Pyrocoelia rufa, were investigated on the midsouthern Korean mainland, coastal islets, a remote offshore island, Jedu-do, and Tsushima Island in Japan. Analysis of DNA sequences from the mitochondrial COI protein-coding gene revealed 20 mtDNA-sequence-based haplotypes with a maximum divergence of 5.5%. Phylogenetic analyses using PAUP, PHYLIP, and networks subdivided the P. rufa into two clades (termed clade A and B) and the minimum nucleotide divergence between them was 3.7%. Clade A occurred throughout the Korean mainland and the coastal islets and Tsushima Island in Japan, whereas clade B was exclusively found on Jeju-do Island. In the analysis of the population genetic structure, clade B formed an independent phylogeographic group, but clade A was further subdivided into three groups: two covering western and eastern parts of the Korean peninsula, respectively, and the other occupying one eastern coastal islet and Japanese Tsushima Island. Considering both phylogeny and population structure of P. rufa, the Jeju-do Island population is obviously differentiated from other P. rufa populations, but the Tsushima Island population was a subset of the Korean coastal islet, Geoje. We interpreted the isolation of the Jeju-do population and the grouping of Tsushima Island with Korean coastal islets in terms of Late Pleistocene-Holocene events. The eastern-western subdivision on the Korean mainland was interpreted partially by the presence of a large major mountain range, which bisects the midpart of the Korean peninsula into western and eastern parts.