Abstract
Species of the Brazilian cave barklouse genus Neotrogla (Psocodea: “Psocoptera”: Trogiomorpha: Prionoglarididae: Sensitibillini) are known to have a “female penis (gynosome)” that functions as an intromittent organ inserted into the membranous pouches in the simple male genital chamber during copulation to receive semen. However, the functions of other male and female genital structures and the copulatory processes of Neotrogla were completely unknown to date. Based on µCT observation of the male and female postabdomen and connected muscles both before and in copula, we clarified the functions of the male and female genital structures. In addition, based on the analyses of the established 3D models, we concluded that precise and rigid contact of multiple genital structures, and step-by-step releases of each holding mechanism achieved by the cooperation of both sexes are involved in the copulatory processes. The coevolution between the male and female genital structures in Neotrogla may provide a new example for the evolution of tolerance traits.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Kentaro Uesugi for support with the µCT imaging. Research at Spring-8 was approved through project numbers 2016A1269 (leader: Ryuichiro Machida), 2017B1712 and 2018B1725 (Naoki Ogawa). This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, grant numbers 20J2088301 to ZC and 15H04409 and 19H03278 to KY. RLF thanks the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq grant n. 308334/2018-3).
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Communicated by: Matthias Waltert
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Cheng, Z., Kamimura, Y., Ferreira, R.L. et al. Are males just passive? Coupling mechanism of the Brazilian cave insects with inverted genitalia. Sci Nat 110, 26 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-023-01855-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-023-01855-8