Microsurgical manipulation reveals pre-copulatory function of key genital sclerites

Stimulatory Functions of Male Genitalia in Tipula (Triplicitipula) colei Alexander and Tipula (Lunatipula) translucida Doane (Diptera: Tipulidae) and Implications for Theories of Genital Evolution

Male genitalia have been hypothesized to function as courtship devices during copulation, but it is difficult to use behavioral observations to test this hypothesis because male genitalia are usually hidden inside the female during copulation. In tipuloid flies, however, nearly all of the male's complex genital structures remain outside the female. Copulation behavior and genital morphology in Tipula (Triplicitipula) colei and T. (Lunatipula) translucida suggest that some male genital structures function to stimulate the female: male structures that contact the female bear tufts or dense arrays of modified setae on precisely the surfaces that contact the female; contact involves repeated, stereotyped rhythmic movements that include brushing, vibrating, scraping, and tapping; the movements are appropriately designed to utilize the morphology of the modified setae to stimulate the female; and the movements have little or no other perceptible mechanical effects on the female. The female structures contacted by these male genital movements fail to show the defensive designs predicted by the theories of genital evolution that are based on morphological species isolation or male-female morphological conflicts of interest; also unexplained by the conflict of interest hypothesis are female movements that seem designed to increase rather than avoid stimulation by the male.