Morphological diversity of male salivary glands in Panorpidae (Mecoptera)

Abstract

The morphology of the male salivary glands of eighteen species of Panorpidae from China was studied using light microscopy. The results show that the male salivary glands differ markedly both at generic and specific levels. In Neopanorpa, the salivary glands consist of only two simple long secretory tubes extending to the fifth or sixth abdominal segment, whereas in Sinopanorpa, the salivary glands are composed of six extremely elongated secretory tubes. In Panorpa, the salivary glands are quite diverse, comprising two simple short secretory tubes only extending to the prothorax in the P. amurensis group (P. liui and P. jilin-ensis), six long tubes in the P. centralis group, eight to twelve in the P. diceras group and of a very variable number in the P. davidi group (especially in P. bifasciata and P. subambra). Morphology of the male salivary glands should be included in future studies on the systematics and phylogeny of the Panorpidae.