The species C. externa, C. defreitasi, C. raimundoi and C. genanigra (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) have great differences in the genitalia. These species were studied morphometrically by the distances between points of the head (eight linear measurements) to better identify them. The results, analyzed by multivariate statistics, showed that it is possible to identify measures that distinguish the individual, although some species are more distinguishable by morphometry. The canonical analysis showed that three of the four species, C. raimundoi, C. genanigra and C. externa, showed no major overlap between them, and their possible discrimination within the group, only C. defreitasi presented a low resolution according to this analysis, being overlapped with C. externa and C. genanigra, however, it is totally broken in C. raimundoi. The measures that contributed most to differentiation are related to the size of the head and especially the length of wrasse on the edge of the head, until the level of the eyes and antenna.
Biological control; cryptic species; morphometrics; predator
