A comparative morphological study of the epiandrous apparatus inmygalomorph spiders (Araneae, Mygalomorphae)

N. FERRETTI, G. POMPOZZI, S. COPPERI, A. WEHITT, E. GALÍNDEZ, A. GONZÁLEZ, F. PÉREZ-MILES

MICRON

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016

0968-4328

tMany adult male spiders have silk glands which are not associated with the spinnerets. They occuron the anterior margin of the genital furrow and are used during the building of the sperm web andsperm droplet induction. These epiandrous glands exit the body through ducts which lead to specializedspigots. In the taxon Mygalomorphae, the presence of epiandrous spigots is just reported for a coupleof species but their morphology has not been investigated. In this paper we provide a detailed study ofthe ultrastructure morphology of eighteen species belonging to eight families using light and scanningelectron microscopy (SEM). We describe and present images of the epiandrous spigots above the genitalopening. Also, we compare the morphology of spigots between families and describe the epiandrousglands through histology