Cowpea seed beetle
Callosobruchus maculatus
0.86 mm
Projected end-to-end length of the fully everted aedeagus with inflated endophallus (micro-CT rendering of one male frozen in copula), measured by us against the figure's 0.25 mm scale bar; includes parameres at the base
Spiny
The male's genitalia carry rigid spines that wound the female's copulatory duct during mating. Males with longer spines harm females more, and they also do better in sperm competition.
Sources
- Dougherty L.R., Simmons L.W. (2017) X-ray micro-CT scanning reveals temporal separation of male harm and female kicking during traumatic mating in seed beetles. Proc. R. Soc. B 284:20170550 doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0550
- Hotzy C., Arnqvist G. (2009) Sperm competition favors harmful males in seed beetles. Current Biology 19:404–407 doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.01.045
- University of Florida / IFAS, Stored Product Pests Photographs CD-ROM: 'Cowpea weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus' (2005) link
- van Lieshout E., McNamara K.B., Simmons L.W. (2014) Why do female Callosobruchus maculatus kick their mates? PLoS ONE 9(4):e95747 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095747
- Arnqvist G., Grieshop K., Hotzy C., Rönn J., Polak M., Rowe L. (2021) Direct and indirect effects of male genital elaboration in female seed beetles. Proc. R. Soc. B 288:20211068 doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.1068
Drawn from
- Dougherty & Simmons 2017, Proc R Soc B, Fig. 1c: Micro-CT volume rendering of a fully everted aedeagus (lateral): parameres (P), end plate (EP), spiny region (AS), endophallus (E); 0.25 mm scale bar
- Dougherty & Simmons 2017, Proc R Soc B, Fig. 1a–b: Partly everted aedeagus: dense bottlebrush of long spines (lateral and end-on)
See it at true size on your screen · Human vs Cowpea seed beetle