The anatomy and histology of the internal reproductive organs of the sunflower beetle, Zygogramma exclamationis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Abstract

The anatomy and histology of the female and male internal reproductive organs of the sunflower beetle, Zygogramma exclamationis (F.), are described. The female system consists of a vagina, bursa copulatrix, common oviduct, lateral oviducts, spermatheca, spermathecal accessory gland, and ovaries. Twelve ovaries examined contained from 23 to 32 telotrophic ovarioles, the average being 27.3. The male system consists of a pair of bilobed testes, a pair of accessory glands, vasa deferentia, and an ejaculatory duct which is bifurcated at its anterior end. Three testes examined contained 34, 36, and 37 sperm tubes, respectively. The basic features of the reproductive systems of Z. exclamationis are similar to those of other Chrysomelidae.

Histomorphological description of the reproductive system in mated honey bee queens

“…After ovulation, the egg passes from the calyx (Figure 4B) into a lateral oviduct (Figure 4C) which has multiple accordion-like, longitudinal folds which allow expansion of the oviduct lumen for the passing egg (Laidlaw, 1944;Mackensen & Tucker, 1970) as illustrated in Figures 4C-7 and 8. One of the distinctive features of the lateral oviduct is the presence of cteniform spines in the epithelial intima (Figure 4D-11) which have been described in earlier studies (Berger-Twelbeck & Dorn, 1994;Gerber et al, 1978;Laidlaw, 1944). These spines are more numerous and pronounced in the anterior portion of the oviducts adjacent to the calyx and are absent in the median oviduct.…”

“…These spines are more numerous and pronounced in the anterior portion of the oviducts adjacent to the calyx and are absent in the median oviduct. The spines are believed to have a role in the unidirectional progression of the egg from the lateral to the median oviduct by preventing its cranial movement during muscle contraction (Gerber et al, 1978).…”

Structure of the male reproductive accessory glands ofPterostichus nigrita(Coleoptera: Carabidae), their role in spermatophore formation

“…The number of accessory glands in male Pterostichus nigrita is similar to that of Zygogramma exclamationis and Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Chrysomelidae), Popillia japonica (Scarabaeidae) and several Cleridae, all possessing a single pair of simple tubules (Anderson 1950;De Loof and Lagasse 1972;Gerber et al 1978;Opitz 2003) that join the posterior region of the vasa deferentia. These beetles have the simplest male duct morphology of the Coleoptera (Kaulenas 1992) in contrast to other beetle species which can have two, three, or five pairs of glands (Gerber et al 1971;Huignard 1975;Gadzama et al 1977;Happ et al 1977;Singh 1978;Cassier and Huignard 1979;Glitho and Huignard 1990).…”

Copulation behavior inside and outside the beetleMacrohaltica jamaicensis (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)

“…Names of genitalic structures follow those of Lindroth (1957), Samuelson (1966), and Gerber et al (1978. Orientations of male structures inside the female are given with respect to the female's body axes.…”