Departamento de Biologia, I.B., UNESP, Rio Claro, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Microsc Res Tech. 2011 Sep;74(9):853-62. doi: 10.1002/jemt.20969. Epub 2010 Dec 16.
Rhyncophorus palmarum (Coleoptera) is a pest of great economic importance because of the damage caused in the plants of the Palmae family. This study showed that the female reproductive system of this beetle is composed of two ovaries of the telotrophic meroistic type invariably containing two ovarioles per ovary. Each ovariole is home to about 50 oocytes at different stages of maturation. The proximal region of the ovary is rather peculiar because it houses inside it a large quantity of bacilliform structures immersed in a glycolipoprotein substance, which has never before been described in the literature. The function of these structures is still unknown. However, it is suggested that they can function as a method of neutralizing the resistance of the plant because these insects are responsible for the transmission of the red ring disease to the palm plants.
棕榈犀象甲（Coleoptera）是一种具有重要经济意义的害虫，因为它会对 Palmae 科的植物造成损害。本研究表明，这种甲虫的雌性生殖系统由两个 telotrophic meroistic 型的卵巢组成，每个卵巢中始终各包含两个卵巢小管。每个卵巢小管中大约有 50 个处于不同成熟阶段的卵母细胞。卵巢的近端区域非常特殊，因为它内部有大量的杆菌状结构，浸泡在糖脂蛋白物质中，这在文献中从未被描述过。这些结构的功能尚不清楚。然而，有人认为它们可以作为中和植物抗性的一种方法，因为这些昆虫是导致棕榈植物患红斑病的罪魁祸首。
