Morphological Variation within and between Four Closely Related Phyllotreta Species: P. dilatata, P. flexuosa, P. ochripes and P. tetrastigma (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Abstract

Phyllotreta dilatata Thomson, 1866, P. flexuosa (Illiger, 1794) P. ochripes (Curtis, 1837) and P.tetrastigma (Comolli, 1837) are four closely related, morphologically similar flea beetle species which are usually distinguished according to elytral colour pattern and also show morphological differences in the genitalia. Here both uni- and multivariate analyses are used to study intra- and interspecific morphological variation for the four species. All species seem to differ in overall morphology and the results also support the idea of regarding P. tetrastigma and P. flexuosa as two different systematic entities.