Culex orientalis is belonging to the mimeticus group of the genus Culex and shows various patterns of white pale spots on the wing and wing venation which cause an ambiguity to identify as this species. To confirm whether or not these variations are limited within the species, we observed 230 Cx. orientalis specimens collected in Korea and divided them into 51 variations according to their wing spots patterns. To compare a molecular similarity between the variations, the ITS2 regions of five major variations were analyzed. The results showed that there are more than 97% nucleotide sequence similarity between the variations as well as within a variation. This results suggest that the wing variations of Cx. orientalis are limited a within-species divergence. To further confirm, ITS2 regions of other species (Cx. mimeticus and Cx. jacksoni) in the mimetiucs group will be analyzed and compared with those of Cx. orientalis variations.

• Hyunwoo Kim(Division of Medical Entomology, Center for Immunology and Pathology, Korea National Institute of Health,KCDC)
• Jong Yul Roh(Division of Medical Entomology, Center for Immunology and Pathology, Korea National Institute of Health,KCDC)
• Mi-Yeoun Park(Division of Medical Entomology, Center for Immunology and Pathology, Korea National Institute of Health,KCDC)
• E-Hyun Shin(Division of Medical Entomology, Center for Immunology and Pathology, Korea National Institute of Health,KCDC)