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EJECTION AND INGESTION OF THE SPERMATOPHORE BY THE FEMALE LADYBIRD BEETLE, HARMONIA AXYRIDIS PALLAS (COLEOPTERA: COCCINELLIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Shohko Obata  and
Toshitaka Hidaka
Shohko Obata
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606 Japan
Toshitaka Hidaka
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606 Japan
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Extract

Sperm transfer in the aphidophagous ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis Pallas, is by a spermatophore (unpublished data). Although the utilization of spermatophores in insects has been considered to be a more primitive method of insemination than direct sperm transfer, males of many orders produce spermatophores (Chapman 1969; Gerber 1970; Leopold 1976). The remains of the spermatophore, after the sperm has migrated to the spermatheca, is ejected by the female in some species and dissolved within the female genital tract in others (Chapman 1969; Leopold 1976). In Coccinellidae, Fisher (1959) reported on spermatophore formation of Chilocorus spp. and indicated that the female ejected the empty spermatophore 18–24 h after copulation. In this paper evidence is presented that H. uxyridis females not only eject the empty spermatophore but also feed on it.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 119 , Issue 6 , June 1987 , pp. 603 - 604
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1987

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References

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