First description of an intact copula in Coniopterygidae (Insecta: Neuropterida: Neuroptera) based on microCT imaging

Abstract

The finding of a copulating pair of Coniopteryx (Holoconiopteryx) haematica (Mc Lachlan, 1868) offers the possibility to study the position of the elements of the genitalia of both sexes to each other for the first time in Coniopterygidae by using X-ray microcomputed tomography. The genital sclerites of the male resemble largely those of Coniopteryx (Coniopteryx) pygmaea (Enderlein, 1906) treated previously. Therefore, terminology and interpretation of the genital sclerites following the “gonocoxite concept” are adopted. The dominating eye-catching sclerite of the male is sternite 9 (the hypandrium externum of diverse taxa), the dominating sclerite of the female genitalia is the sclerotized spermatheca embedded in the “copulatory cup” of the hypandrium externum of the male. There is no indication that the genital sclerites of the male, the so called intromittent sclerites, are pushed into the female during copulation. They apparently function as a track for the distal part of the long slim ductus ejaculatorius.