Effects of broken male intromittent organs on the sperm storage capacity of female earwigs, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Euborellia plebeja</Emphasis> |
| |
Authors: | Yoshitaka Kamimura |
| |
Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minamiosawa 1-1, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan, |
| |
Abstract: | In earwigs of the family Anisolabididae, male intromittent organs (virgae) sometimes break off inside female sperm-storage
organs (spermathecae) during mating. I examined the effects of this genital breakage on the sperm storage capacity of females
using Euborellia plebeja as a representative species. When genital breakage was artificially induced in virgin females, subsequent males successfully
inseminated these females. However the sperm-storage capacity of these females was limited by the presence of broken virgae
in their spermathecae. In another experiment, genital breakage was experimentally induced in the spermathecae of inseminated
females, and their reproductive performance was then monitored for 60 days. In all of four cases where the entire piece of
the broken virga remained inside the spermatheca, females deposited fertile eggs (more than 60% hatchability). The average
number of clutches, that of eggs laid, and that of hatchlings were similar to those of controls. On the other hand, females
laid no eggs in the other two cases where the broken virgae protruded from the spermathecal opening. I discuss the relevance
of the results to the mating system and possible removal of rival sperm, which has been reported for E. plebeja.
Electronic Publication |
| |
Keywords: | Earwig Genitalia Insemination Sperm removal Sperm storage |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|