P. zalmoxis Pair? Or two Males...

[sloanus]

Last month (Feb.22) there was an ebay auction featuring the two P. zalmoxis specimens shown in the photo attachment.  There  was an apparent size difference in the abdomens of each specimen, and the seller provided a third photo.  I could not be certain that the specimen on the right was a female and asked the seller for confirmation that this was indeed a Pair and the specimen on the right was a Female. He was unable to confirm its being a female.
A winning bid of $327.00 for the two specimens ended the auction. 17 people had bid. If someone had bought 2 males for this amount, you have my condolences. If somebody won the Pair for this amount, congratulations on a ridiculously
cheap winning price for a female.

If anyone has any further information regarding this auction, I'd be most interested in knowing whether it was
actually a female. Many thanks.

Richard Herwitt
California USA

[mikelock34]

Do not know about the ebay "pair," but I have several male zalmoxis with plump abdomens that look like females at first and second glance.

Michael

[africaone]

Mar 12, 2015 1:38:55 GMT -8 mikelock34 said:

Do not know about the ebay "pair," but I have several male zalmoxis with plump abdomens that look like females at first and second glance.

Michael

the case has been largely debated on the forum of insect collector Collector's forum

at collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/266/papilio-zalmoxis-female

[Adam Cotton]

There clearly is a clasper visible in the single specimen photo in my opinion, so is a male.

Adam.

[Adam Cotton]

What I found alarming about this is that originally there was only the single photo of the two specimens on the eBay item page. The other photo of the single specimen under question was only added when the bidding had already gone very high.

Adam.