Molecular and biometric data on Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus Fabricius, 1792 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Mid Mediterranean areas

Abstract

Te present study was carried out using molecular and biometric data of Carabus (Macrothorax) morbillosus from mid-Mediterranean areas to determine additional information on basal relationships among its representative subspecies. To this aim, two diferent kinds of approach were employed, including a morphometric analysis of four morphological parameters (i.e., elytra length, elytra width, pronotum length, pronotum width) of 128 specimens, and a Bayesian genetic analysis of 44 cytochrome oxidase subunit I(COI) partial sequences (i.e., 38 examined for the frst time and six retrieved from GenBank database). Representative populations of C. (M.) morbillosus were sampled in four countries, namely Italy, Malta, Spain, and Tunisia. Te present fndings support the validity of four C. (M.) morbillosus subspecies, specifcally C. (M.) m. alternans, C. (M.) m. bruttianus, C. (M.) m. constantinus, and C. (M.) m. macilentus, and redefne these subspecies’ distributions. Notably, within the C. (M.) m. constantinus clade, two (i.e., Sardinia/Tuscany and Lampedusa) out of the three subgroups appear as homogeneous geographical groupings.