Insect Reproduction

Entomology (BIOL 409)

Fall 2004, Lecture # 21
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 Insect Reproduction
Outline
• Hormones and Reproduction
• Reproductive Organs
– Male
– Female
• Sex Determination
• Reproductive Strategies
 Hormones and Reproduction
• Review of hormones during
development/molting
• ECDs and JH assume new roles as
gonadotropins
– In male Note to self: See overheads
• Testes development
• Spermatogenesis
• Fluids of accessory glands
– In female
• Ovary development
• Oogenesis, follicle development
• Synthesis & uptake of yolk proteins
 Male Reproductive System
• Functions
– Sperm production
– Sperm transfer
• Gonads (testes)
– Paired, bilaterally arranged
– Site of spermatogenesis
– Contain multiple sperm tubes
– Housed in peritoneal sheath
• Transfer structures
– Vas efferens
– Vas deferens
– Seminal vesicles
an aedeagus (penis),which is sclerotized
– Aedeagus and ejaculatory and
ductmay be intricate
 Spermatogenesis
• Occurs in sperm tubes Spermatogonia (2N)

– May be continuous mitosis

process
– May occur once in the Spermatocytes (2N)
life cycle meiosis

maturation
Spermatids (1N)
• Spermatozoa exit
sperm tubes Spermatozoa

• Stored in seminal
vesicles
 Sperm Transfer
• Most Apterygota: Packages the sperm in
– Indirect sperm transfer a spermatophore

– Requires spermatophore and generally humid

conditions
• Pterygota generally:
– Direct transfer
– Requires copulatory structures
• Exception: traumatic insemination That’s outrageous

– Cimicidae
– Penis inserted through body wall
– Sperm delivered into hemolymph
Female Reproductive System
• Functions Functions
• Structures • Egg production
• Ovary types • Egg fertilization
• Oogenesis – Includes sperm
storage
• Ovulation
• Egg placement
• Oviposition
– oviposition
 Female Structures
• Gonads
• Lateral oviducts
• Median oviduct
• Genital chamber
• Spermathecal
structures
• Accessory glands
 Ovary Types
Panoistic: Oocyte + follicle cells
– Apterygota, Paleoptera, most Orthopteroid,
Thysanoptera, Siphonaptera
Meroistic: oocyte + trophocytes (nurse
cells)
• Polytrophic: trophocytes accompany
oocyte into vitellarium
– Lice, Dermaptera, Psocoptera, most
Endopterygotes
• Telotrophic: trophocytes remain in
germarium, connection to oocyte via
nutritive cord
– Most Hemipteroid, Coleoptera (Polyphaga)
 Oogenesis & Ovulation
• Oogenesis occurs in
oogonia (2N)
ovariole Germarium
– May be continuous mitosis

process
1° oocyte (2N)
– May occur once in the
meiosis
life cycle
• Mature oocyte exits Vitellarium 2° oocyte (1N)
ovariole - ovulation
oocyte & follicle cells
• Oocyte passes through
oviducts
• Fertilization in genital Calyx
chamber
 Oviposition
• Gonopore position variable
• Gonopore may be surrounded by ovipositor
or other modifications,
– Often the structure is telescopic
• Oviposition behavior variable
– Phasmids simply drop eggs
– Most place eggs ‘carefully’
• Often protected site or on/in food source
– Some species guard eggs & larvae
• Earwigs, some hemipterans, social insects
Reproductive Strategies I: “To
Lay Eggs or Not To Lay Eggs”
• Oviparity
• Ovoviviparity

 
• Viviparity

                   

                      
 Oviparity
• Egg laid shortly after fertilization
– No retention
– No nutrients to embryo after fertilization
 Ovoviviparity
• Eggs retained until embryogenesis
complete
– Embryo fed by egg reserves
– Female deposits nymph/larva
• Example: many Aphids
 Viviparity
– Eggs retained and
• Embryo fed by mother
• Immatures may complete development before
deposition
– Examples: Strepsipterans, Tsetse fly
 Reproductive Strategies II:
Who Reproduces?”
• Paedogenesis
– Reproduction by larval insects
• Parthenogenesis
– Development without fertilization
– Unfertilized eggs produce:
• Males (arrhenotoky) in Hymenoptera
• Females (thelytoky)
• Both (amphitoky) in aphids, some wasps
• Polyembryony
 Polyembryony
• Found in some endoparasitic groups only
• Single egg results in 2 to ‘several
thousand’ larvae
• Some larvae may be ‘defender morphs’
– Hatch more quickly
– Eliminate rival parasites
– Fail to pupate & they die
• Remaining larvae become ‘reproductive
morphs’ that complete development and
reproduce to carry on the species
 Functional Hermaphroditism
• Resulting from abnormal development
– Gynandromorphs (genetic mosaics)
– Intersexes (genetically uniform, result from
unstable development)
• Normal development in some scale insects
– Female scales have both male and female
gonads
– Eggs are self-fertilized
– In some scale insect species, males are rare