The innervation of the male copulatory organ of spiders (Araneae) - a comparative analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Nervous tissue is an inherent component of the many specialized genital structures for transferring sperm directly into the female's body. However, the male copulatory organ of spiders was considered a puzzling exception. Based on the recent discovery of nervous tissue in the pedipalps of two distantly related spider species, we investigated representatives of all major groups across the spider tree of life for the presence of palpal nerves. We used a correlative approach that combined histology, micro-computed tomography and electron microscopy.

Results

We show that the copulatory organ is innervated in all species investigated. There is a sensory organ at the base of the sperm transferring sclerite in several taxa and nervous tissue occurs close to the glandular

SUBMITTER: Dederichs TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6813115 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature