BLEPHARICERIDAE

Sinclair, Bradley J., Borkent, Art & Wood, D. Monty, 2007, The male genital tract and aedeagal components of the Diptera with a discussion of their phylogenetic significance, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 150 (4), pp. 711-742 : 722

BLEPHARICERIDAE

Description ( Fig. 2B )

Testis: Each testis is oval and pale ( Philorus Kellogg ) or club-shaped, bent and twisted, and darkly pigmented ( Zwick, 1977).

Epididymis: Not differentiated.

Vas deferens: These ducts are long and slender and extend directly to the sperm pump ( Philorus ) or are non-existent when the testis is rather elongate and empties directly into the sperm pump ( Zwick, 1977).

Accessory gland and seminal vesicle: There are one to two pairs of pale glands, which empty separately at the base of the elongate testes ( Zwick, 1977). The contents and function of these glands are unknown. No glands were observed in Philorus .

Ejaculatory duct: The ducts exiting the testis remain completely separate for their entire length and empty separately and directly into the sperm pump ( Zwick, 1977; Sinclair, 2000: fig. 1). There appears to be no distinction between the vas deferens and the ejaculatory duct.

Ejaculatory apodeme, sperm pump, and aedeagus: The base of the aedeagus bears an enlarged ejaculatory apodeme, which compresses the sperm pump ( Sinclair, 2000). The aedeagus in Blephariceridae is divided posteriorly into three narrow forks, with each narrow tube opening independently ( Fig. 2B ).

Remark: The male genital tract of this family was studied by Zwick (1977).

Figures

Figure 2. Male internal reproductive organs (dorsal view). A, Tipula oleracea L. (Tipulidae) [modified from Keuchenius (1913)]. B, Philorus vividis Kitakami (Blephariceridae) (accessory glands not observed) (scale bar = 0.1 mm). C, Lucilia sp. (Calliphoridae) [modified from Hori (1960)]. D, Trichocera annulata Meigen (Trichoceridae) [modified from Neumann (1958)]. E, Phlebotomus sp. (Psychodidae) [modified from Just (1973) and Perfil’ev (1968)]. F, Sylvicola sp. Anisopodidae [modified from Abul-Nasr (1950) and Dahl (1980)]. acc gl, accessory gland; aed, aedeagus; ej dt, ejaculatory duct; sem ves, seminal vesicle; spm pmp, sperm pump; tes, testis; vas df, vas deferens.