Traumatic insemination and female counter-adaptation in Strepsiptera (Insecta).
Miriam Peinert1, Benjamin Wipfler1, Gottfried Jetschke2
1Entomology Group, Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Erbertstrasse 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany.
Scientific Reports
|April 30, 2016
Summary
Male Stylops insects use traumatic insemination, piercing females to transfer sperm. This study reveals females are polyandrous, mating multiple times, and details a novel organ reducing mating injury costs.
Area of Science:
- Entomology
- Insect reproductive biology
- Parasitology
Background:
- Traumatic insemination is known in some insects, particularly Strepsiptera with free-living females.
- Endoparasitic Strepsiptera (Stylopidia) were thought to use brood canal mating, with females mating only once.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mating behavior of Stylops ovinae, an endoparasitic strepsipteran.
- To clarify the insemination method and mating frequency in Stylopidia.
Main Methods:
- Micro-computed tomography (μCT) imaging of Stylops ovinae during copulation.
- Morphological analysis of reproductive structures.
Main Results:
- Observed traumatic insemination, with males piercing the female cephalothorax via an invagination.
- Confirmed female Stylops are polyandrous, with males detecting female mating status.
- Described a novel cephalothoracic invagination in females, potentially mitigating injury.
Conclusions:
- Traumatic insemination, not brood canal mating, occurs in endoparasitic Stylopidia.
- The cephalothoracic invagination may be a key adaptation for traumatic insemination in endoparasitic females.
- Original traumatic insemination likely persisted through the evolutionary transition to endoparasitism.
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