Host-parasitoid associations of Strepsiptera: Anatomical and developmental consequences

The strepsipteran host-parasitoid system is complex and unique, due to total dependence of the parasitoid on a living host for its survival. As a result of this, the eggs of stylopised Segestidea novaeguineae (Brancsik) (Orthoptera : Tettigoniidae) are severely deformed and have a bulbous protrusion. The structure of the chorion of the eggs in stylopised and unstylopised hosts was studied and is described. The moulting sequence in the endoparasitic, female Stichotrema dallatorreanum Hofeneder, the outer layers of the germ cells in the female strepsipteran, and the ultrastructure of the rickettsia-like microorganisms, found mainly in the female Strepsiptera, are discussed.