Have female twisted-wing parasites (Insecta: Strepsiptera) evolved tolerance traits as response to traumatic penetration?

Traumatic insemination describes an unusual form of mating during which a male penetrates the body wall of its female partner to inject sperm. Females unable to prevent traumatic insemination have been predicted to develop either traits of tolerance or of resistance, both reducing the fitness costs associated with the male-inflicted injury. The evolution of tolerance traits has previously been suggested for the bed bug. Here we present data suggesting that tolerance traits also evolved in females of the twisted-wing parasite species Stylops ovinae and Xenos vesparum. Using micro-indentation experiments and confocal laser scanning microscopy, we found that females of both investigated species possess a uniform resilin-rich integument that is notably thicker at penetration sites than at control sites. As the thickened cuticle does not seem to hamper penetration by males, we hypothesise that thickening of the cuticle resulted in reduced penetration damage and loss of haemolymph and in improved wound sealing. To evaluate the evolutionary relevance of the Stylops-specific paragenital organ and penis shape variation in the context of inter- and intraspecific competition, we conducted attraction and interspecific mating experiments, as well as a geometric-morphometric analysis of S. ovinae and X. vesparum penises. We found that S. ovinae females indeed attract sympatrically distributed congeneric males. However, only conspecific males were able to mate. In contrast, we did not observe any heterospecific male attraction by Xenos females. We therefore hypothesise that the paragenital organ in the genus Stylops represents a prezygotic mating barrier that prevents heterospecific matings.

Automated summary

The study found that females of the twisted-wing parasite species developed tolerance traits by thickening their integument, reducing damage and improving wound healing caused by traumatic insemination. Additionally, the presence of specific reproductive organs and variation in penis shape affected inter- and intraspecific mating competition.