Key to all known species of Zonothrix Todd, 1942

1. Body of female C-shaped after fixation....................................................................2

- Body of female coiled after fixation.................................................... Z. izecksohni Kloss, 1959

2(1). Posterior end of corpus in female narrower than oesophageal bulb............................................... 3

- Posterior end of corpus in female almost as broad as oesophageal bulb............... Z. hydroi (Galeb, 1878) Todd, 1942

3(2). Mature female more than 2 mm and less than 5mm long....................................................... 4

- Mature female less than 2 mm long................................................. Z. helocharesae Kloss, 1959

4(3). Swollen annulation present in cephalic extremity of female.................................................... 5

- Swollen annulation absent in cephalic extremity of female................................. Z. tropisterna Todd, 1942

5(4). Cephalic annule in female not inflated.....................................................................6

- Cephalic annule in female inflated.................................................. Z. alata Shah & Rizvi, 2004

6(5). Female tail narrowing behind anus and not continuing as a spine-like caudal extension.............................. 7

- Female tail not as above............................................................................... 8

7(6). Female tail conical................................................................... Z. gladius Kloss, 1959

- Female tail conically attenuated.......................... Z. mehdii (Farooqui, 1967) Adamson & Van Waerebeke,1992

8(6). Caudal extremity of female terminating in a short spine-like structure........................................... 9

- Caudal extremity of female without spine-like structure...................................................... 10

9(8). Caudal spine of female=26–35 µm long.................................................... Z. galebi Kloss, 1959

- Caudal spine of female less than 10 µm long............................................. Z. paraense Kloss, 1959

10(8). Distance between vulva and anus 20–28% total body length, tail of female 5–8% of body length; seven pairs of caudal papillae in male............................................................... Z. columbianus Adamson & Buck, 1990

- Distance between vulva and anus less than 15% of total body length, tail of female 10% of body length; six pairs of caudal papillae in male..................................................................... Z. adversa Kloss, 1958