SSCP (single-strand conformation polymorphism) analyses of ubiquitin genes were used to investigate evolutionary relationships within the subgenus Orinocarabus of the genus Carabus. After SSCP electrophoresis of PCR-amplified ubiquitin copies, population-specific band patterns were obtained. Ubiquitin-SSCP-analyses of the six central European Orinocarabus species, including three subspecies and thirteen populations, resulted in a dendrogram that differed from that based on morphology. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) did not support the SSCP dendrogram, but was in good accordance with the taxonomy based on morphological characters. The reason for the discrepancies seems to be evolutionary conservation of the ubiquitin genes. The time that elapsed since the evolution of the closely related Orinocarabus species is too short for concerted evolution of the ubiquitin genes.