Effect of diet on male reproductive tract of Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

The morphology and histology of the reproductive tract of males of the predator Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) fed on different diets were studied. P. nigrispinus was fed on diets of: larvae of Alabama argillacea (Hübner), Tenebrio molitor L., Musca domestica L., and an artificial diet. The male reproductive tract, independent of diet, showed testes with intense red coloration in a compact, circular, or slightly oval structure. The vasa deferentia were similar in color to the testes and formed long filaments, which joined with the yellow-cream colored ejaculatory duct. The morphological characteristics of the male reproductive tract were similar under all diets, except for the artificial one. The histological studies demonstrated that independent of the diet the testes of P. nigrispinus were composed of four to six follicles. The testes with six follicles generally had four developed and two atrophied follicles. The morphological and histological differences of the testes of P. nigrispinus when fed with different prey are presented and discussed.

The Reproductive Tract of the Males of the Zoophytophagous Predator <i>Brontocoris tabidus</i> (Signoret) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) with Different Diets and Ages

“…The inner genitalia of B. tabidus males is similar to that of other Heteroptera predators (Lemos et al, 2005b). Its intense red color seems to be a peculiar morphological feature of many species of this group of predators (Lemos et al, 2005b).…”

“…Its intense red color seems to be a peculiar morphological feature of many species of this group of predators (Lemos et al, 2005b). Males of Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) presented testes with intense red coloration (Lemos et al, 2005b).…”

“…Podisus nigrispinus (Dallas), Brontocoris tabidus (Signoret) and Supputius cincticeps (Stäl) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) in South America (Zanuncio et al, 2000;Lemos et al, 2003;2005a;2005b), Eocanthecona furcellata (Wolff) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) in the Southeast Asia and India (De Clerq, 2000), Troilus luridus F. and Zicrona caerulea L in European Russia (Shestakov, 2008) and Picromerus bidens (Linnaeus) distributed in the western Palearctic region (Mahdian et al, 2008).…”

“…However, the morphological features of the reproductive organs and the fecundity of predatory Pentatomidae can be affected by factors such as unfavorable environmental conditions and quantity or quality of the food (Lemos et al, 2005a;2005b).…”

“…Pentatomidae are important for the biological control but the internal morphology of the reproductive organs of these natural enemies, especially of their males have been poorly studied, except for P. nigrispinus (Lemos et al, 2005b). Besides, the internal reproductive organs of Pentatomidae are used as taxonomic characters (Ahmad and McPherson, 1998).…”