Live specimen in swimming pool.

I assume that the local black Hoplia species begins flying and feeding while still brown and somewhat teneral and that this is one such individual, for the following reasons:

- Brown females are highly attractive to copulating black males (presumably being virgin females), whereas black females are generally ignored.
- Brown individuals are highly color-variable and occur at densities noticeably lower than black ones.
- The black morphospecies appears to be the only one in suburban/urban areas here. Even when Hoplia are hyperabundant I have never noted a