Functional morphology of the female internal genitalia observed in Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermiiller) (Lepidoptera Tortricidae)

Abstract

Female genital apparatus of L. botrana has been studied on fresh material and compared with that of Laspeyresia pomonella (Linne) (Tortricidae) and Eupoecilia ambiguella (Hiibner) (Cochylidae), both already known from the literature. Clear anatomical differences among these three species have been found in both the copulatory pouche and the seminal canal. In mated females of L. botrana (n=12), copulatory pouche was made swollen by its content, which included a globose-pedunculate production. Although the latter looked like a typical spermatophore, it didn't include any trace of sperm. A very dense and intricate mass of spermatozoa was found in the spermatheca of the same females. In author's view, these observations don't support for L. botrana the classical view of the insemination process in Ditrysia, as they don't confirm the preliminary building of a true spermatophore. Moreover, the very thin seminal canal of L. botrana seems unable to allow the passage of the conspicuous sperm mass occurring in the spermatheca of the mated females.