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Distiphallus Morphology And Its Role In Copulation Dynamics In Anastrepha Suspensa (Loew), Taylor J. Inboden
Distiphallus Morphology And Its Role In Copulation Dynamics In Anastrepha Suspensa (Loew), Taylor J. Inboden
Masters Theses
Anastrepha suspensa (Diptera; Tephritidae) is an agricultural pest species
causing severe economic damage and is controlled, in part, by applying knowledge
of this species' reproduction (e.g., disrupting fertile copulations by SIT). During
copulation, males transfer sperm as well as protein rich fluids through an aedeagus
and distiphallus, which females then store in three spermathecae and one ventral
receptacle. Within the female reproductive tract, the ventral receptacle and the
three spermathecae are strategically separated from each other. I hypothesized
males' ability to direct sperm transfer within the female reproductive tract is
through the structures found in the distiphallus. Utilizing scanning electron …