Genital morphology of female goblin spiders (Arachnida: Araneae: Oonopidae) with functional implications. (19th December 2011)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Burger, Matthias
• Is Part Of: Acta zoologica. Volume 94:Number 3(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 280
• Page End: 290
• Publication Date: 2011-12-19
• Subjects: Zoology -- Periodicals; 590
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2011.00553.x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0001-7272

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Spider genital morphology usually provides the best characters for taxonomy. Furthermore, functional genital morphology helps to understand the evolution of complex genitalia and their role in the context of sexual selection. The genital systems of most haplogyne spider families are poorly investigated with respect to their morphology. The present study investigates the female genitalia of the oonopids <italic>Oonops pulcher</italic>, <italic>Oonopinus kilikus</italic>, and <italic>Pseudotriaeris</italic> sp. by means of light microscopy and SEM. The male palps are briefly described. Females of <italic>O. pulcher</italic> store spermatozoa in an anterior and a posterior receptaculum (PRe). The genitalia resemble the primitive dysderoid genitalia supporting the hypothesis that the subfamily Oonopinae contains more basal oonopids. In <italic>O. kilikus, </italic> the anterior receptaculum is reduced to a sclerite. Spermatozoa are stored in a PRe. The receptacula of <italic>Pseudotriaeris</italic> sp. are reduced to sclerites. Spermatozoa in the uterus internus indicate that fertilization happens there or in the ovary. The anterior sclerite might serve females to lock the uterus during copulation as suggested for other gamasomorphines. The male palp of <italic>O. kilikus</italic> is simple, whereas the palps of <italic>O. pulcher</italic> and <italic>Pseudotriaeris</italic> sp. appear more complex. Complicated structures on the palp of <italic>Pseudotriaeris</italic> sp. indicate that males exert copulatory courtship.</p> </abstract>