[Intraspecific genetic differentiation of the Siberian Rubythroat (Luscinia calliope): data of sequencing the mtDNA cytochrome b gene].

For the first time, genetic diversity and intraspecific subdivision of Luscinia calliope was studied according to the data of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene sequencing. The strong differentiation of haplotypes of the Siberian Rubythroat into western and eastern groups, which include subspecies according to their geographical attachment, was revealed. A high-haplotypic (Hd = 0.986) and nucleotide (pi = 0.00875) variety was shown for the species as a whole. We revealed considerable genetic distances (pi = 0.016) between the western and eastern haplotypes that were four times higher than the intraspecific distances in terms of cytochrome b for passerines (D = 0.004). For three birds from Transbaikal, significant genetic divergence was detected, which could indirectly indicate the existence of the transition zone of several subspecies in this part of the area.

[Maintaining of the morphological specificity and genetic introgression in populations of the great tit Parus major and the Japanese tit P. minor in the middle Amur region].

The ranges of the great tit Parus major and the Japanese tit P. minor overlap in the middle Amur region, where hybridization of these two species occur. These species have contacted for nearly a century on the western slope of the Malyi Khingan Ridge (the central part of the sympatry zone), but the great tit has colonized territories to the east of the ridge only in the last two decades. The percentage of the P. minor's allele of intron 2 of the mioglobin gene has significantly increased from 8.9% in the west to 27.8% in the east in phenotypically major's populations. Thus, the percentage of foreign mtDNA in P. major populations did not change significantly from west (6.2%, n = 120) to east (3.2%, n = 61). Simultaneous use of two genetic markers (one nuclear and the other mitochondrial) supports our conclusion on strong introgression in the populations of both species, which nevertheless maintain their morphological specificity in the contact zone.

[Bloodsucking midges from the nests of birds in the foothills of Western Sikhote-Alin]. / Krovososushchie mokretsy iz ptich'ikh gnezd predgorii Zapadnogo Sikhote-Alinia.

The specific composition and number of midges in nest biotopes of birds of forest formations of Western Sikhote-Alin are given. 17 species of the genus Culicoides were found to attack 17 species of birds during the nesting period. The number of midges in nests depends both on the biotopical distribution of nests and mode of living of birds and on the total number of midges in nature. The most high percentage of females engorged with blood at nests was recorded in the obsoletus group, which is most abundant on man and at nests of birds of anthropogenic complex.