Four species of Anagrus (A. breviphragma Soyka, A. incarnatus Haliday, A. fennicus Soyka and A. obscurus Foerster sensu Soyka), that live on Carex riparia Curtis (Cyperaceae) in uncultivated areas along the Po river in the Piacenza province in Italy were analysed using RAPD markers in order to investigate their genetic relationships. High levels of RAPD polymorphism were found in the genus Anagrus, which permitted the fingerprinting of the four species. Analysis of average genetic similarities within species and comparison with average values between species confirms that A. breviphragma, A. incarnatus, A. fennicus and A. obscurus represent four genetically distinct species. A dendrogram constructed from molecular data of single families clearly clustered the four species in different groups, their mutual position reflecting morphological and biological observations., Elisabetta Chiappini, Lucia Soressi, Corrado Fogher, Marco Zanirato, and Lit