Department of Applied Entomology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
Exp Appl Acarol. 2011 Dec;55(4):349-59. doi: 10.1007/s10493-011-9479-8. Epub 2011 Jul 13.
Under dissociated sperm transfer, (non-pairing) males deposit spermatophores on a substrate, while females seek spermatophores and pick up sperm on their own. Spermatophore expenditures of non-pairing males should be high, due to the increased uncertainty of sperm uptake by a female. In this study I examined spermatophore expenditures in two eriophyoid species that differed in the degree of dissociation between sexes: (1) Aculus fockeui (Nalepa and Trouessart) males rarely visit quiescent female nymphs (QFNs), and mostly deposit spermatophores all over the leaves, whereas (2) Aculops allotrichus (Nalepa) males guard QFNs for many hours and deposit several spermatophores beside them. Males of both species were collected from the field and tested in solitude. Aculus fockeui males deposited on average 19.1 spermatophores per day, whereas A. allotrichus deposited only 3.6 spermatophores per day, and had a very large coefficient of variation. Males and spermatophores of A. allotrichus were significantly smaller and contained less sperm than those of A. fockeui. In both eriophyoids, spermatophore size was fitted to the size of female genitalia and the height of females. The ratio between the diameter of spermatophore head and the width of a female genital coverflap was 0.6, whereas the ratio between the female leg and the length of spermatophore stalk was 0.5. Several factors could be responsible for the discrepancy in spermatophore expenditures between species. Among other factors, the effects of male size, male reproductive strategy and female genitalia size on spermatophore output and size of spermatophores are discussed.
在游离精子传递中，（非配对）雄性将精荚沉积在基质上，而雌性则自行寻找和捡起精荚。由于雌性摄取精子的不确定性增加，非配对雄性的精荚支出应该很高。在这项研究中，我检查了两种在性别分离程度上不同的瘿螨物种的精荚支出：（1）Aculus fockeui（Nalepa 和 Trouessart）雄性很少访问静止的雌性若虫（QFN），并且大多将精荚沉积在叶子上，而（2）Aculops allotrichus（Nalepa）雄性则会看守 QFN 数小时，并在其旁边沉积几个精荚。两种物种的雄性均从野外采集并在单独的情况下进行测试。Aculus fockeui 雄性平均每天沉积 19.1 个精荚，而 A. allotrichus 雄性每天仅沉积 3.6 个精荚，且变异系数非常大。A. allotrichus 的雄性和精荚比 A. fockeui 的雄性和精荚小得多，且含有的精子也少得多。在这两种瘿螨中，精荚的大小与雌性生殖器的大小和雌性的高度相匹配。精荚头部直径与雌性生殖器盖瓣宽度的比值为 0.6，而雌性腿长与精荚柄长度的比值为 0.5。有几个因素可能导致物种间精荚支出的差异。除其他因素外，还讨论了雄性大小、雄性生殖策略和雌性生殖器大小对精荚输出和精荚大小的影响。
