Spermalege

The spermalege (also known as the organ of Berlese[1]) is a special-purpose organ found in female bed bugs that appears to have evolved to mitigate the effects of traumatic insemination.[2] The spermalege has two embryologically distinct parts, known as the ectospermalege and mesospermalege.[3] The evolution of the spermalege as a female counter-adaptation for traumatic insemination was proposed by the French entomologist Jacques Carayon in 1966.[2][4]

  1. ^ Siva-Jothy, M. T. (2006) "Trauma, disease and collateral damage: conflict in cimicids," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 361, 269–275.
  2. ^ a b Edward H. Morrow & Goran Arnqvist (2003). "Costly traumatic insemination and a female counter-adaptation in bed bugs" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 270 (1531): 2377–2381. doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2514. PMC 1691516. PMID 14667354. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-10.
  3. ^ Reinhardt, K., Naylor, R. & Siva-Jothy, M. T. (2003) "Reducing a cost of traumatic insemination: female bedbugs evolve a unique organ," Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 270, 2371–2375.
  4. ^ Carayon, J. (1966) Traumatic insemination and the paragenital system. In Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera—Heteroptera) (ed. R. L. Usinger), pp. 81–166. College Park, MD: Entomological Society of America.