Genetic diversity of rice stem borer (Chilo suppressalis Walker) from Northern Iran and comparison with other countries

Rice striped stem borer, <em>Chilo suppressalis</em> Walker (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is considered the major pest of rice in Iran. Because of the serious damage on rice in Northern Iran, the present study was conducted to investigate genetic diversity within populations of <em>C. suppressalis</em>, from Mazandaran using a template of cytochrome oxidase I gene, 750 bps, (<em>COI</em>). Later the haplotypes from Iran were compared with those found in other countries. According to the results of this study, there is very low genetic diversity (two haplotypes) among different populations of this pest in populations of Northern Iran. The genetic similarity and low levels of genetic diversity of these populations suggest that the pest colonization occurred relatively recently and there is high gene flow between these populations of the province. In addition, haplotypes of Mazandaran province are different with those found in other countries. The similarity of Iranian population (Simorgh) with one population from China indicated that China might be the origin of <em>C. suppresalis