Genital Armature Research Articles

Doubts about the validity of the species name Hipparchia hermione (Linnaeus, 1764) (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae), it being associated with the two species Hipparchia alcyone ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) and H. genava (Fruhstorfer, 1908) following the designation of a lectotype by Kudrna (1977) - Second part –

Doubts about the validity of the species name Hipparchia hermione (Linnaeus, 1764) (Lepidoptera: Satyrinae), it being associated with the two species Hipparchia alcyone ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) and H. genava (Fruhstorfer, 1908) following the designation of a lectotype by Kudrna (1977) - Second part –

CONTRIBUTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GEOMETRID MOTHS (LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE LEACH, 1815) OF MONTENEGRO AND SERBIA

The results of the faunal exploration of Geometer Moths (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) in the area of Montenegro and Serbia are reported. Based on fieldwork conducted in the past 50 years, data for 71 species are presented. Wherever necessary, comments are provided concerning ovipositional and nutritional plants, as well as illustrations of adults and genital armature. In Montenegro, several species have been recorded for the first time.

A comparative study of the male genitalia of the Cacodemoniini (Pseudoscorpiones: Withiidae)

Propositions of homology are fundamental in systematics, since they provide the basis for supporting clades. Consequently, such phylogenetic propositions rely on correct character and character state definitions. Although male genital morphology is a key source of information for understanding the phylogeny and classification of the Withiidae (Pseudoscorpiones), they have only been subjected to examination in six of the 170 species of the family. The suprageneric classification of the Withiidae is unstable, as subfamilies and tribes are not well supported by morphological characters, and only the unranked group of genera Cacodemoniini is currently accepted. The aim of the present work is to characterize the male genital armature of the Cacodemoniini and propose homology statements for these structures based upon their morphological correspondence. Through direct examination and literature review of 12 of the 13 genera of the Cacodemoniini, we provide the first structural correspondence statements and descriptions of variation for the dorsal apodemes, the ejaculatory canal, the lateral apodemes, and the lateral rods; we also conclude that unlike other pseudoscorpions, the Cacodemoniini have paired, independent lateral rods and a long ejaculatory canal formed not by the dorsal apodemes exclusively, but by a fusion of the dorsal and the lateral apodemes. The proposed interpretations lay the groundwork for phylogenetic testing of homologies and may allow a better understanding of the formation of the spermatophore, given that it is molded by the genital armature.

The possibility of using characters of the female genital armature for species diagnostics and classification of the genus Mellicta Billberg, 1820 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae): 1. Mellicta athalia (Rottemburg, 1775) species group

The morphology of female genital armature of seven species of the genus Mellicta belonging to the M. athalia species-group from different localities of their ranges is analyzed. The main distinctive features are described and their variability and use for species identification are assessed. It is shown that some characteristics of female genitalia can be used to clarify the systematic position of species within the genus. Keys to species of the athalia group based on female genitalia are given.

Significance of constraints on genital coevolution: Why do female Drosophila appear to cooperate with males by accepting harmful matings?

The mechanisms driving the coevolution of male and female genital morphologies are still debated. Female genitalia in Drosophila species bear membranous "pouches" or hardened "shields," which the male genital armature contact during copulation. Although shield-like structures likely serve to mitigate the effects of harmful mating, some authors have suggested that soft pouches, which do not prevent male genitalia from inflicting wounds, represent a congruent sensory organ. To elucidate the evolutionary forces responsible for the development of such organs, I examined the effects of artificial damage to various genital parts of female Drosophila erecta on reproductive success. Despite a high survival rate among females, damage to the ovipositor plate resulted in frequent failure of insemination and in the embedment of eggs into the substrate. Damage to the vaginal shield resulted in increased mortality and frequent failure of egg embedment, with an egg blocking the vagina under the damaged shield in some females. Wounding of the pouch had less of an effect on both mating and oviposition success, suggesting that the structure "lures" the male trauma-causing organs to areas where the resultant wounds do not interfere with insemination or oviposition. These data show that the dual functions of female genitalia (mating and oviposition) mediate genital coevolution.

A New Species of the Genus Tylototriton (Urodela: Salamandridae) from Northeastern Hunan Province, China

We describe a new species from the family Salamandridae from northeastern Hunan Province of China based on morphological and molecular genetic evidences. The new species, Tylototriton liuyangensis, is a member of the T asperrimus group, and shares a number of similarities with T wenxianensis and T broadoridgus. The dorsal surface of the new Tylototriton species is completely black, with nodule-like warts distributed evenly along the lateral margin of dorsal body, and there is no transverse striae between the warts. There are several diagnostic characters of the new species that differ from those of T wenxianensis and T broadoridgus as follows: (1) the interorbital space (IOS) is comparatively wide; (2) there is a bony ridge present on the dorsal head surface, running along the upper eyelids; (3) the space between axilla and groin (AGS) is comparatively large, with the mean male AGS approximately equal to 50% of the snout-vent length (SVL) and the mean female AGS being 53% of SVL; and (4) there is a small genital armature on the anterior angle of labial folds present inside the anal fissure of adult males during the breeding season. The result from the molecular phylogenetic analysis of the genus Tylototriton (including the type specimen of the new species) based on the complete DNA sequence of the mitochondrial ND2 gene (1035 bp) indicated that the new species was similar to T wenxianensis, T dabienicus, and T broadoridgus, but formed an independent clade. This result was consistent with the morphological analysis above, supporting that the Liuyang Population represented a distinct species.

Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) of East Asia (1). Re-examination of the male genitalia of types deposited at the Russian Academy of Sciences .

East Asia is famous for its tremendous overall biodiversity, and the Nepticulidae are no exception. The majority of the currently known fauna of Nepticulidae was described in 1984-1987 by several authors, but R. Puplesis is the author of the largest number of new species from the region. Unfortunately, the genitalia of all species from Primorskiy Kray, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands were described from temporary slides in glycerol, and therefore, the drawings do not always show all details of genital armature or may be confusing. Without the baseline data providing morphology of genital armature of type material, it is impossible to continue studies on the East Asiatic fauna of Nepticulidae. In this paper we reexamine and document for the first time with photographs the types of 56 species described by R. Puplesis from the Russian Far East. Details of the morphology is updated for most of the re-examined species.

The endogean beetle fauna of the Marganai-Oridda-Valle del Leni area (SW Sardinia), with description of seven new species of Staphylinidae Leptotyphlinae (Coleoptera)

Twenty-six species of endogean beetles are recorded from the Marganai-Oridda-Valle del Leni area, belonging to six different families: Carabidae (Typhloreicheia holdhausi Magrini, Fancello & Casale, 2006, T. leoi pilosa Magrini & Fancello, 2007, T. tanit Leo, Magrini & Fancello, 2005), Leiodidae [Bathysciola damryi (Abeille de Perrin, 1881)], Staphylinidae [Eudesis aglena Reitter, 1882, E. minima Binaghi, 1948, Mayetia sp., Trimium amplipenne Reitter, 1908, Tychobythinus dentimanus (Reitter, 1884), Tychus sp., Pselaphostomus sp., Phloeocharis ichnusae Dodero, 1900, Octavius raymondi Saulcy, 1878, O. sardous Coiffait, 1965, four new species of Entomoculia, three new species of Leptotyphlus], Zopheridae (Langelandia reitteri Belon, 1882, Lyreus septemstriatus Fancello & Leo, 1991), Curculionidae (Torneuma sp.) and Raymondionymidae [Alaocyba carinulata Perris, 1869, Raymondiellus sardous sardous (Perris, 1869)]. One species (Langelandia reitteri) is W-Mediterranan, one is a Sardo-Corsican endemic (Tychobythinus dentimanus), the remaining 24 species are all Sardinian endemics and 16 of these are strictly localized within the study area or restricted to SW Sardinia. The following species of Staphylinidae Leptotyphlinae are described: Entomoculia villascemae sp. nov., E. carbonaria sp. nov., E. shardana sp. nov., E. melonii sp. nov., Leptotyphlus nardii sp. nov., L. minator sp. nov. and L. villacidrinus sp. nov.; all are easily distinguishable from their congeners by the structure of the male copulatory organ and female genital armature. The morphology of the copulatory organ in the newly described Leptotyphlus species indicates that the classical subgeneric categories used in Leptotyphlus are probably based on characters not reflecting a natural subdivision of the genus.

Novel copulatory structures and reproductive functions in Amphiboloidea (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Pulmonata)

Abstract. Two new families of amphiboloid gastropods were recently erected, largely due to the very distinct structural and functional configurations of their distal reproductive systems. The spermovipositors in monaulic Salinator spp. (Amphibolidae) are functionally unique in Gastropoda, and it is suggested that they perform both oviposition and sperm transfer/receipt during non‐reciprocal copulation. In contrast, the remarkably complex penises in syntremous diaulic Phallomedusa spp. (Phallomedusidae) are used exclusively for sperm transfer during reciprocal copulation. The phallomedusid penis is structurally unique among gastropods because it is protruded by pivoting around a fixed point rather than extending by eversion, and bears elaborate appendages to improve traction during copulation. The complex and functionally ambiguous distal reproductive structures of Maningrida (Maningrididae) differ from other amphibolids in the arrangement and structure of their prostate and copulatory structures. Genital armature of varying complexity occurs in all amphiboloidean families. There may be a correlation between the absence of a long‐term sperm storage structure (spermatheca) and the evolutionary diversification of copulatory structures in these gastropods.

Copulation, genital damage and early death in Callosobruchus maculatus

Antagonistic sexual coevolution stems from the notion that male and female interests over reproduction are in conflict. Such conflicts appear to be particularly obvious when male genital armature inflicts damage to the female reproductive tract resulting in reduced female longevity. However, studies of mating frequency, genital damage and female longevity are difficult to interpret because females not only sustain more genital damage, but also receive more seminal fluid when they engage in multiple copulations. Here, we attempt to disentangle the effects of genital damage and seminal fluid transfer on female longevity in the beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). Males copulating for the sixth time in succession inflicted greater levels of genital damage, but transferred smaller ejaculates in comparison with virgin males. The number of copulations performed by males was negatively related to female fecundity and positively related to female longevity, suggesting a trade-off between fecundity and longevity. However, inclusion of fecundity as a covariate revealed sperm and/or seminal fluid transfer to have a negative impact on female longevity above that caused by the fecundity-longevity trade-off. The consequences of multiple copulations on female longevity were examined. Females that mated twice laid more eggs and died sooner than those that mated once. However, incorporation of fecundity as a covariate into our statistical model removed the effect of female mating frequency on female longevity, indicating that double-mated females suffer greater mortality owing to the trade-off between fecundity and longevity. Males of this species are known to transfer very large ejaculates (up to 8% of their body weight), which may represent a significant nutritional benefit to females. However, the receipt of large ejaculates appears to carry costs. Thus, the interpretation of multiple mating experiments on female longevity and associated functional explanations of polyandry in this species are likely to be complex.

Corynosoma australe Johnston, 1937 and C. cetaceum Johnston & Best, 1942 (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) from marine mammals and fishes in Argentinian waters: allozyme markers and taxonomic status

Genetic and morphological studies were carried out on acanthocephalans belonging to Corynosoma Lühe, 1904 and referable to the species C. cetaceum Johnston & Best, 1942 and C. australe Johnston, 1937, which were recovered from both definitive and intermediate hosts in Argentinian waters. The aims were to estimate the level of genetic differentiation between the two taxa at any stage of their life-cycle, to provide genetic (allozyme) markers for their recognition and to analyse the systematic status of both taxa. Acanthocephalans were collected from the stomach and intestine of Arctocephalus australis (Zimmerman), the intestine of Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus) and the stomach of Pontoporia blainvillei Gervais & D'Orbigny (definitive hosts) in Argentinian waters. Alternative alleles at all the 13 enzymatic loci studied were observed for C. australe and C. cetaceum. The specimens from the stomach of both P. blainvillei and A. australis were identified, on the basis of the great number of diagnostic loci found, as C. cetaceum; those from intestine of both A. australis and M. leonina as C. australe. A high level of genetic differentiation (D(Nei)=infinity: I(Nei)=0.00) between the two taxa was found, suggesting a generic distinction between the two species. Cystacanths of the two species from the body-cavity of the fish Cynoscion guatucupa (Cuvier) collected from the same geographical area were identified genetically. Morphological patterns, such as the number of hooks and hook rows on the proboscis, the distribution of somatic and genital armature, and other morphometric and meristic differences, in addition to ecological data, enabled the identification of these two species at cystacanth, juvenile and adult stages. However, a number of morphological and morphometric features of the Argentinian material were different to those of C. australe and C. cetaceum described from other regions of the world.

The genital atrium as a good taxonomic character to distinguish between species of phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Venezuela.

The shape and size of the genital atria of 17 phlebotomine sandflies from Venezuela were examined. The atria were found to express constant characters among individuals of the same species and to be sufficiently different between species to allow taxonomic separation. The spines on the genital armature are described and the characters that can be used to classify individual specimens to species level identified. It is suggested that these characters can be of use on specimens where the spermathecae have been lost or where cryptic species are concerned. Dissection procedures to display the atrium are given.

The genital atrium as a good taxonomic character to distinguish between species of phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Venezuela

The shape and size of the genital atria of 17 phlebotomine sandflies from Venezuela were examined. The atria were found to express constant characters among individuals of the same species and to be sufficiently different between species to allow taxonomic separation. The spines on the genital armature are described and the characters that can be used to classify individual specimens to species level identified. It is suggested that these characters can be of use on specimens where the spermathecae have been lost or where cryptic species are concerned. Dissection procedures to display the atrium are given.

Commentaires sur la terminologie de l'armure génitale chez les Lépidoptères

AbstractIn this paper, the author critically discusses the terminology concerning the genital armature in Lepidoptera, with particular reference to the works of Diakonoff, Sibatani and Klots (in Tuxen). It is considered that present-day terminology comprises too many terms (about goo) and that great confusion arises, due to the numerous synonymous and homonymous terms and to the adoption of vernacular terms, as well as of terms referring to minor structures. At the end, the author states several principles which ought to be adopted, with a view to supplying order to terminology and to elucidating it.

On the so‐called spermatophores of Chirothrips manicatus Haliday (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

SYNOPSISStructures previously identified as spermatophores in Chirothrips manicatus are interpreted as genital armature. The male genitalia, including the armature, are described and figured.

On Daubaylia elegans n.sp., in Planorbis carinatus Muller.

Daubaylia elegans n.sp., is described from Planorbis carinatus in the Netherlands. Tables are given of the comparative measurements of the other members of the genus. The main differences between D. elegans n.sp., and these other species are the ratio length to breadth, the length of the tail, the presence of a cuticular knob on the tail of the female and the relative size of the male genital armature.

Male Genitalia of Lepidoptera: Morphology and Nomenclature1,2 I. Divisions of the Valvae in Rhopalocera, Phalaenidae (= Noctuidae) and Geometridae

In a number of specialized groups of Lepidoptera the paired clasping organs, the valvae, of the male genital armature frequently show such complexity of structure that an appropriate subdivision of these organs is profitable for descriptive purposes. Attempts to divide the valvae into several parts have hitherto been made repeatedly, especially in the Rhopalocera[6][1], Phalaenidae (= Noctuidae) and Geometridae. Pierce's system (1909, 1914) devised originally for description of the male genitalia of the latter two familes, has since been accepted, at least in part, by some of the most prominent workers (Busck and Heinrich, 1921; Eyer, 1924; Mehta, 1933; Viette, 1948). For other families, especially those belonging to the Rhopalocera, other systems of terminology and of subdivision have been presented (Petersen, 1904; Warren, 1926). However, the morpological basis of the proposed systems is largely obscure, so that there might be a serious question whether it is possible to establish a generalized principle, useful in dividing the valvae of differently modified types into several regions, which above all must readily be applicable with reasonable homologies throughout the more specialized groups of Lepidoptera. [1]: #fn-3

Male genitalia of mallophaga infesting North-Indian birds

The above description of the male genitalia of some of the important forms belonging to Amblycera and Ischnocera, infesting Indian birds, shows in some degrees the extent of variation and modification undergone by the biting-lice in their male genital structures. It will also serve to emphasise the importance of the male genitalia in the taxonomic study of Mallophaga of both the above mentioned sub-orders. The study of homologies of the various structures is a difficult task until the development of male genital armature has been followed in important groups. Yet the author believes that for the time being they can be persued along the lines of Ewing who has studied the male genitalia of Anoplura or the sucking-lice. Another inference which can be derived from the above study of the male genitalia of Amblycera and Ischnocera is that in the Amblycerans the male genital structures are of more generalised type and have gone less modification, whereas in Ischnocera we find that the male genitalia are much specialised along various divergent lines.

The Male Genital Armature in the Order Anoplura, Or Sucking Lice

Only in very recent years has the value of the male genital armature in taxonomic work on the Anoplura been appreciated. In 1907 Pawlowsky made studies of the genital structures of the males by sectioning specimens. But it was not until 1910 that there was any extended comparative account given. In that year Mjöberg published his very extensive studies in which he figured and described many of the chief features of the hard parts for several species of sucking lice. He was the first to employ some of the terms largely used today for the more conspicuous parts, such as the basal plate, parameres and the preputial sack.

Some Malformations of the Aedeagus and cases of probable Parasitic Castration in Coleoptera of the Family Anobiidae

A Large part of an account of the Anobiid beetles of the Seychelles Islands by the present writer, recently published (1924), consists of a description of a complex of species of small and obscure insects which it was extremely difficult to unravel. For these beetles, which vary in length between 1·6 and 2·6 mm., a new genus, Nesotheca, was erected. It was found that this genus has representatives in the Oriental Region, though the species of it which occur in the Seychelles are almost certainly endemic to those islands. Owing to the external characters being in many cases very inconstant, it proved impossible to discriminate between the various species at all satisfactorily by these characters alone, and therefore recourse was had to an examination of the genital armature, or aedeagus, of the males. This organ presents in the genus Nesotheca a remarkable series of quite distinct and constant forms, so that specimens which are almost, or entirely, indistinguishable externally, fall into quite clearly demarcated species when the aedeagus is used as a criterion. That the organ exhibits a quite different form in each of the ten species described can be seen by glancing at the figures in the paper to which reference has been made.