Department of Biology, Faculty of Biology, Zaporizhzhia National University, Zhukovsky Street, 66, 69600 Ukraine.
Ann Parasitol. 2021;67(2):169-174. doi: 10.17420/ap6702.326.
Factors that affect on the sexual behavior of leeches not only in nature, but also in artificial conditions remain largely unexplored. We did not find data on the behavior of medicinal leeches, which are not placed in time from the aquatic environment in the peat-soil conditions after the appearance of clitella on their bodies. Therefore, the study of this problem has become relevant. For the study, four experimental animals groups were formed: 1 control - medicinal leeches (H. verbana), which were allowed to breed immediately after the appearance of clitella; 2 experimental - medicinal leeches (H. verbana), which were kept in an aqueous medium after the appearance of clitella for a month and then allowed to breed; 3 control - medicinal leeches (H. medicinalis), which were allowed to breed immediately after the appearance of clitella; 4 experimental - medicinal leeches (H. medicinalis), which were kept in an aqueous medium after the appearance of fertilization belts for a month then allowed to breed. The 400 sexually mature healthy medical leeches of two types aged 1.5-2 years were used in experiments. Initially, four individuals were placed into 4-liter containers for sexual intercourse, and after the appearance of differentiated fertilization zones, the control groups were immediately allowed to breed in a peat-soil environment. The experimental groups were left in the same containers for a month and then the survived leeches were allowed to breed. As a result of our research, we found mortality in the experimental groups. From the first week, we found that mortality before breeding of H. verbana was 15.6 ± 2.1% and of H. medicinalis - 14.3 ± 1.5%. Also, 92 ± 0.9% leeches from experimental group died in pet-soil environment sometimes even without cocoon deposition. The experimental group had defective cocoons, but mostly dead offspring.
影响医蛭性行为的因素不仅在自然环境中，而且在人工环境中也在很大程度上尚未得到探索。我们没有找到关于医蛭行为的数据，这些医蛭在身体上出现环带后，没有被及时从水生环境转移到泥炭土壤环境中。因此，研究这个问题变得很有必要。为此，我们组建了四个实验组：1. 对照组 - 医蛭（H. verbana），它们在出现环带后立即被允许繁殖；2. 实验组 - 医蛭（H. verbana），它们在出现环带后被放置在水中一个月，然后被允许繁殖；3. 对照组 - 医蛭（H. medicinalis），它们在出现环带后立即被允许繁殖；4. 实验组 - 医蛭（H. medicinalis），它们在出现受精带后被放置在水中一个月，然后被允许繁殖。实验中使用了 400 只年龄在 1.5-2 岁之间的成熟健康的两种医蛭个体。最初，将四只个体放入 4 升的容器中进行交配，在出现分化的受精带后，对照组立即被允许在泥炭土壤环境中繁殖。实验组则被留在相同的容器中一个月，然后允许幸存的医蛭繁殖。通过我们的研究，我们发现实验组出现了死亡率。从第一周开始，我们发现 H. verbana 在繁殖前的死亡率为 15.6 ± 2.1%，而 H. medicinalis 的死亡率为 14.3 ± 1.5%。此外，实验组中有 92 ± 0.9%的医蛭在泥炭土壤环境中死亡，有时甚至没有结茧。实验组的茧有缺陷，但大多是死亡的后代。
