On Zonopterus flavitarsis, Hope

After a careful examination of not less than 14 representatives of the genus Zonopterus to which Hope’s description of flavitarsis ¹) is applicable, I hesitate to decide whether this is a very variable species as regards the form of certain parts of the body, or that there are several species so closely allied to one another that, without extensive series, it will prove to be impossible to define the specific characteristics in a manner sufficient enough to allow future identification from the descriptions only. Of the 14 specimens now before me 9 are males, 5 females, and, without exception, the former have the abdomen red, the latter blue. I therefore believe the difference in colour of the abdomen to be of sexual value ²).