Allozyme polymorphism in a natural population of Chrysoperla carnea sensu lato (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae): A contribution to the status of the constitutive taxons in western Europe

In recent years, several sibling species have been discovered in chrysopid lacewings. In Europe, the common green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) sensu lato seems to correspond to a ''complex'' of three morphologically and biologically different taxons: Ch. carnea sensu stricto, Ch. kolthoffi (Navas) and Ch. lucasina (Lacroix), the status of which is not yet fully clarified. We examined, by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the esterase and acid phosphatase polymorphism in a natural population of the Chrysoperla complex collected in the centre of France. Five groups of esterases and two groups of phosphatases were investigated, but only two loci, Est-3 and Acp-2, achieved a good resolution allowing a satisfying genetic interpretation. The genetic analysis confirmed the significant divergence between Ch. lucasina, and the two others forms. The genetic similarity between Ch. carnea and Ch. kolthoffi seems to be higher. No alternative allozymes demonstrate that gene flow does not occur in field populations, nor a full reproductive isolation of the different taxons.