Morphology of the spermatheca of Triatoma lecticularia (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) (Stal, 1859)

Abstract

Triatoma lecticularia (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) (Stal, 1859) is a potential vector of Chagas's disease and the comprehension of its reproductive biology is an important tool to control this insect. In the reproductive tract of female insects, the spermatheca plays a crucial role storing male spermatozoa after mating. Whithin insects the spermatheca shows a wide morphological diversity and the analysis of this characteristic can contribute to understand the reproductive biology of the species. This study describes the histology and histochemistry of the spermatheca of T. lecticularia. Females have a pair of elongated spermathecal reservoirs without associated accessory gland. The reservoir opens into the common oviduct via a narrow muscular duct. The reservoir epithelium has single layer of columnar secretory cells. The control of the release of spermatozoa from the spermatheca occurs via the muscular duct. The anatomical features of the spermatheca of T. lecticularia resemble those described of other Reduviidae. However, the histological and histochemical features of spermatheca observed in T. lecticularia were important to explain the maintenance of the viability of the spermatozoa stored.Keywords: Triatominae, morphology, secretion, spermatozoa. Morfologia da espermateca de Triatoma lecticularia (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) (Stal, 1859) ResumoTriatoma lecticularia (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) (Stal, 1859) é um potencial vetor da doença de Chagas e a compreensão de sua biologia reprodutiva é um importante fator para seu controle populacional. No aparelho reprodutor feminino dos insetos, a espermateca desempenha a importante funcão de armazenar os espermatozoides após cópula. Nos insetos, a espermateca apresenta uma ampla diversidade morfológica e a análise destas características pode contribuir com o entendimento da biologia reprodutiva das espécies. Este estudo descreve histológica e histoquimicamente a espermateca de T. lecticularia. As fêmeas tem um par de espermatecas alongadas sem glândulas acessórias associadas. O reservatório conecta-se ao oviduto comum através de um ducto muscular curto que controla a liberação dos espermatozoides. O epitélio do reservatório possui uma camada de células secretoras colunares. As características anatômicas da espermateca de T. lecticularia são semelhantes às encontradas em outros Reduviidae. Entretanto, as características histológicas e histoquímicas observadas na espermateca são importantes para explicar a manutenção da viabilidade dos espermatozoides armazenados.

Histology and histochemistry of the accessory gland of the female reproductive tract of Rhodnius neglectus Lent, 1954 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

“…The female reproductive tract of insects is formed by a pair of ovaries and lateral oviducts, a common oviduct, spermathecae, and accessory glands (Chapman, 2013). The accessory gland is usually unique in hematophagous Hemiptera, as reported for Triatoma lecticularia (Stal, 1859), Rhodnius brethesi Matta, 1919, Rhodnius nasutus Stal, 1859, and Rhodnius pictipes Stal, 1872 (Chiang et al, 2012;Monteiro et al, 2019). However, in other nonhematophagous hemipterans, including Cosmoclopius nigroannulatus (Stal, 1860) (Reduviidae) (Jahnke et al, 2006), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, 1908 (Liviidae) (Dossi and Cônsoli., 2014), and Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris, 1776) (Aphididae) (Wieczorek et al al., 2019) the female reproductive tract has two accessory glands).…”