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Threading a needle with reinforced thread: intromission in Ceratitis capitata (Diptera, Tephritidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2012

William G. Eberhard
William G. Eberhard
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, Ciudad Universitaria, Costa Rica (e-mail: archisepsis@biologia.ucr.ac.cr)
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Abstract

The intromission of the male's long, flexible, threadlike phallus into the female's similarly long, thin, S-shaped vagina in tephritid flies is mechanically challenging. The male of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824), folds the basal portion of his phallus back on itself, inserts the folded portion into the female, and then gradually unfolds his phallus inside her vagina. The site of the fold in the phallus gradually moves distally, deeper into the female, dragging the distal portion of the phallus into her vagina. At the same time, the male pulls the tip of the female's ovipositor distally with his surstyli, straightening her vagina. The male uses his phallapodeme and asymmetrical syntergosternite to periodically clamp and release portions of his phallus that have not yet entered the female. Once the entire distal portion of the male's phallus is inside the female, he unfolds it and then moves its distal tip even deeper, reaching the inner end of her copulatory bursa. Straightening movements of the phallus due to increases in fluid pressure probably supply at least part of the force that drives the phallus into the female.

Résumé

Chez les diptères téphritidés, la pénétration du phallus long, flexible et filiforme du mâle dans le vagin également long, mince et sinueux de la femelle présente un défi mécanique. Le mâle de la mouche méditerranéenne des fruits, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824), replie la partie basale de son phallus sur elle-même, insère la partie repliée dans la femelle et déplie ensuite graduellement son phallus à l'intérieur du vagin. Le point de repli du phallus se déplace graduellement vers l'extrémité, de plus en plus profondément dans la femelle, entraînant ainsi la partie distale du phallus dans le vagin. Au même moment, le mâle tire vers l'arrière le bout de l'ovipositeur de la femelle avec ses surstyles, redressant ainsi son vagin. Le mâle utilise son phallapodème et son syntergosternite asymétrique afin de fixer et de libérer périodiquement les parties de son phallus qui n'ont pas encore pénétré dans la femelle. Une fois toute la partie distale du phallus du mâle entrée dans la femelle, le mâle la déplie et insère la pointe terminale encore plus profondément pour atteindre la surface interne de la bourse copulatrice. Les mouvements de redressement du phallus causés par une augmentation de la pression hydraulique fournit probablement au moins une partie de la force qui fait pénétrer le phallus dans la femelle.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 137 , Issue 2 , April 2005 , pp. 174 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2005

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