Morphological, biogeographical and molecular evidence of Carpocoris mediterraneus as a valid species (Hemiptera:...

Carpocoris mediterraneus Tamanini, 1958, synonymized with Carpocoris fuscispinus (Boheman, 1851) by Ribes et al. (2007), is restored to the species level. The shape of the pronotum is a good diagnostic character to distinguish the two species. The existence of two valid species is supported by geographical distribution patterns in Western Europe: Mediterranean-Atlantic for C. mediterraneus, and Continental for C. fuscispinus. In France and Spain, in some areas, the two species are found in sympatry (sometimes even on the same plant). Morphological observations are confirmed at the molecular level by sequencing of the mitochondrial Cytochrome c oxidase I standard barcode fragment. Indeed, inter-specific divergence largely exceeded intra-specific divergence and our phylogenetic reconstructions reveal that Carpocoris mediterraneus and Carpocoris fuscispinus form two reciprocally monophyletic genetic lineages. A morphological identification key is proposed for all the European species of the genus Carpocoris, to facilitate identification. Carpocoris fuscispinus is first time recorded from Portugal.