Figure 1 in The evolution of Bolbites onitoides (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Phanaeini): its phylogenetic significance, geographical polychromatism and the subspecies problem

Figure 1. The wide colour variation shown by Bolbites onitoides. A, copper (male). B, red (male). C, Copper individual with greenish pronotum and elytra (female). D, atypical bicoloured individual with unusually green elytra (female). E, F, typical bicoloured individuals (males). G–I, blue individuals (males). Although Martínez (1959, 1987) thought that two subspecies could be recognized one for red individuals and the other for blue ones – two facts observed by us do not support this idea. First, two kinds of intermediates exist connecting the two main colour patterns of red (B) and blue individuals (G–I): specimens with a red pronotum and blue or green elytra (D–F), which we call the 'discrete' bicoloured intermediates, and the second being the 'gradual' colour-blended intermediates, or specimens that lie at the centre of the variation spectrum between the two colour ends, which includes specimens showing dorsal colouration entirely coppery (A), coppery with greenish reflections (C), and coppery with reddish reflections. Secondly, no other features were found to vary geographically along with colour. Therefore, we interpret the plethora of colour variants as intraspecific variation of a single monotypic species.