51 

 quadripunctatus, I. scriptus, and their variations. This 



trend may indicate mimetic relationships amoung species. 



Rules of Thumb 



In determining the taxonomic status of various names, 

 and in naming new taxa, several general rules were followed 

 which require some explanation. 



Many species are variable in color pattern over their 

 geographic range. This is illustrated in several species 

 where adequate series have been studied. Certain color 

 patterns are known from only a few specimens, often from 

 scattered localities. If two specimens have different, but 

 basically similar color patterns and their morphology 

 (including the genitalia) is similar, they are considered 

 variations of a single species. 



In other cases a radical color pattern difference is 

 observed, but the genitalia are incomparable (i.e., male 

 vs. female) . These are considered variations of a single 

 species, and are discussed under the most closely related 

 described species, noting the variations and their 

 taxonomic status. 



If a previously described species was a member of 

 several patterns in a cline, that name was synonymized 

 under the senior name and discussed in the species account. 



Consistent morphological differences correlated with 

 color pattern differences are considered to be specific, 

 and these taxa are described. New species are simply 



