Reproductive Systems, Transfer and Digestion of Spermatophores in Two Asian Luciolinae Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae).

During mating, fireflies may transfer sperm to the female wrapped in food materials (spermatophores). We investigate in two firefly species structures in both male and female that indicate production and receipt of spermatophores. Their structure, how they attach and discharge the sperm inside the female, and how long they persist might indicate if these fireflies mate only once or more. Potential differences between males and females of both fully winged and species with flightless females are determined. An overview of present knowledge of female reproductive anatomy is given. An argument is mounted suggesting direct observation of biological structures like spermatophores might be the only reliable way of determining their presence. The internal reproductive anatomy of males and females of two Asian Luciolinae fireflies Emeia pseudosauteri (Geisthardt, 2004) and Abscondita chinensis (L., 1767) is described, and the time course for spermatophore transfer and digestion examined. E. pseudosauteri is sexually dimorphic, with a flightless female, and Abs. chinensis is sexually monomorphic, with the female flighted. Both are monandrous. Possible female accessory glands are described for the first time for both species. An overview of present knowledge of female reproductive anatomy in the Luciolinae reveals males of 18 species in 10 genera may produce spermatophores and permits speculation about spermatophore production in another 16 genera.

在交配期间，萤火虫可能会将包裹在食物物质（精包）中的精子传递给雌性。我们对两种萤火虫的雌雄个体进行了研究，观察其表明精包产生和接收的结构。它们的结构、在雌性体内附着和释放精子的方式以及它们持续的时间，可能表明这些萤火虫是只交配一次还是多次。我们确定了有完整翅膀的萤火虫以及雌性无翅的萤火虫雌雄个体之间的潜在差异。文中还对雌性生殖解剖学的现有知识进行了综述。有人提出，直接观察像精包这样的生物结构可能是确定其存在的唯一可靠方法。 本文描述了两种亚洲熠萤亚科萤火虫——伪条背萤（Emeia pseudosauteri，盖斯哈特，2004）和中华窗萤（Abscondita chinensis，林奈，1767）雌雄个体的内部生殖解剖结构，并研究了精包传递和消化的时间过程。伪条背萤具有两性异形特征，雌性无翅；中华窗萤两性同形，雌性有翅。这两种萤火虫都是单配制的。文中首次描述了这两种萤火虫可能存在的雌性附腺。对熠萤亚科雌性生殖解剖学现有知识的综述表明，10个属中的18个物种的雄性可能会产生精包，并对另外16个属的精包产生情况进行了推测。