Repetitive DNA sequence families in Hemitaxonus minomensis and H. athyrii (Hymenoptera; Tenthredinidae).

Families of the repetitive DNA sequences from Hemitaxonus minomensis and H. athyrii were characterized. pHMS family and pHME family in H. minomensis consist of tandemly arranged arrays whose basic repeat units are 260 bp and 330 bp, respectively. pHAE family in H. athyrii consists of a tandemly arranged array whose basic repeat unit is 330 bp. pHMS family and pHME family occupy approximately 4.8% and 0.07% of the genome of H. minomensis, respectively. By contrast, in H. athyrii, pHAE family comprise 0.04% of the genome. Nucleotide sequence comparison of these three repetitive families showed very little homology. Southern blot hybridization using six species of Hemitaxonus showed that these repetitive families are species specific.