Morphological changes of the ovipositor in species of Cheloninae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in the course of adaptation to egg-larval parasitism

Abstract

Adaptation to the parasitic way of life in braconids has led to a number of consequences in the morphology of the ovipositor of females. As a derivative of the paired appendages of the eighth and ninth abdominal segments, the ovipositor is a complex morphological structure of gonapophysal origin whose muscular system makes possible highly complex movements during the act of egg-laying. In some groups of braconids, imaginal and egg-larval forms of parasitism have developed in the course of evolution. In adapting to these two forms of parasitism, the ovipositor underwent significant changes, while still remaining a successful structure for the paralyzation and laying of eggs in the host. This paper presents a survey of the ovipository apparatus structure in the species of the genera Ascogaster Wesmael, Leptodrepana Shaw, Chelonus Panzer, Microchelonus Szépligeti, and Phanerotoma Wesmael, and gives a review of the changes in structure of the ovipositor during adaptation to egg-larval parasitism.