Species status of two colour morphs of Eupelmus vesicularis (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) as revealed by allozyme electrophoresis,morphometric and host preference data

Eupelmus vesicularis (Retzius) is considered to be a widespread and polyphagous parasitoid recorded from more than 200 hosts. The aim of this study was to determine whether two colour forms of the putative species represent two different morphs of a single species or a pair of cryptic species. Three different methods – morphometric analysis, allozyme electrophoresis and evaluation of host preferences – were used to investigate the existence of two cryptic species. Bivariate and multivariate analyses clearly indicate two species that are also distinguishable electrophoretically at the Idh-2, G6pdh, Me, Pgm and Xdh loci. The evaluation of host preferences indicates some overlap in host range between the two species.