Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae): a species complex?

AGROSubmitted: 5 May 2010Accepted: 12 August 2010doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2010.00450.xMarin, J., Crouau-Roy, B., Hemptinne, J.-L., Lecompte, E. & Magro, A. (2010). Coccinellaseptempunctata (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae): a species complex? — Zoologica Scripta, xx, xxx–xxx.Coccinella septempunctata L., the seven spot ladybird is widely distributed across the Palear-tic region. Based on a few morphological characteristics and geographical origin, somepopulations are recognized as distinct species, e.g., the North African Coccinella algericaKova´rˇ and Japanese Coccinella brucki Mulsant later considered to be a subspecies – C. sep-tempunctata brucki. The objective of this study is to discuss the taxonomic status of theseven spot ladybird, in particular whether it is a complex of species or the same speciesthroughout the Paleartic region. The relationship between populations was clarified byusing a combination of molecular and limited morphometric data and assessing potentialreproductive barriers by means of cross breeding. Although there is considerable variationin the size of the spots on the elytra, the results of this study confirm that all studied pop-ulations belong to the same species.Corresponding author: Alexandra Magro, Universite´ de Toulouse, ENFA, 2 Route deNarbonne, F-31320 Castanet Tolosan, France. E-mail: alexandra.magro@educagri.frJulie Marin, Brigitte Crouau-Roy and Emilie Lecompte, Universite´ de Toulouse, UPS, EDB(Laboratoire Evolution et Diversite´ Biologique), 118 Route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse,France. E-mails: juliemarin@wanadoo.fr, bcrouau@cict.fr, lecompt@cict.frJean-Louis Hemptinne and Alexandra Magro, Universite´ de Toulouse, ENFA, EDB (LaboratoireEvolution et Diversite´ Biologique), 2 Route de Narbonne, F-31320 Castanet Tolosan, France.E-mail: jean-louis.hemptinne@educagri.frJulie Marin, Brigitte Crouau-Roy, Jean-Louis Hemptinne, Emilie Lecompte and AlexandraMagro, CNRS, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversite´ Biologique), F-31062 Toulouse, France