Posted by viktor j nilsson on 12-01-2010 23:44
#1
Hey,
this time a male Pseudolyciella - either P. stylata, P. pallidiventris or P. subpallidiventris.
South of Sweden, the Island Öland. 1st-26th august.
I get terribly confused by the genitalia figures in Shatalkin (2000).
From the illustration, the cerci and paramere of P. stylata looks monstrous - long, straight and narrow like needles! Although Shatalkin´s figure is drawn laterally and my picture of the genitalia is from ventral side, I just can´t accept that this could be P.stylata. But nonetheless - I can only see a single paramere lobe, and subpallidiventris and pallidiventris is supposed to have "lobes of parameres subequal in length". What am I missing?
Thanks,
Viktor
Edited by viktor j nilsson on 12-01-2010 23:48
Posted by Paul Beuk on 13-01-2010 00:10
#3
This would indeed be
P. stylata but I have experienced on several occasions that the relative lenghts of the parameres are variable. Shatalkin's figure for
stylata appears to show the at maximum length difference. As there still is no reliable character to separate females I have the uncanny feeling that it is still possible that these group of three species represents just one single species with variation in the relative lengths of the parameres.
Posted by viktor j nilsson on 13-01-2010 23:58
#4
Ouch, yeah this seems like a real mess. Now that you mention this I think I remember that I have read about this somewhere else on this forum. In Merz´s paper on the Fallén types I am intrigued to read that individuals of all three "species" are represented in Fallén´s type series of P, pallidiventris!
Would be really cool to look deeper into this variation - maybe this is a sign of an evolutionary arms race between the sexes in different populations, or if there are just loads of widespread variation in genital shape between three closely related species?
Edited by viktor j nilsson on 13-01-2010 23:59