Female copulatory tubes and the subdivision of the genus Anthocoris (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae: Anthocorini)

Abstract

We report a systematic study of the female copulatory tubes of forty species in the genus Anthocoris, most of which are from the Northern Hemisphere. Our results indicate that female copulatory tubes can be used as a reliable character to identify females and analyze phylogenetic relationships in this genus. We propose thirteen species groups based on the copulatory tubes of females, other morphological characters of both sexes, and the previous species groups adopted in the continental faunas.