Unlike in many other insect groups, genitalic morphology of the Cassidinae and Hispinae is widely regarded as homogenous and therefore not useful in their systematics. The view is so pervasive that almost no species descriptions include these structures. Consequently there is little documentation of male genitalia and only a few regional works on spermathecal morphology. The female reproductive tract and genitalic sclerites in both sexes are undescribed.
The morphology of the male and female genitalia was studied in 100 species sampled from all tribes of Cassidinae and 12 of the 24 tribes of Hispinae. The reproductive systems in both sexes are described with illustrations and terminology. Variation within and among tribes is discussed and characters for resolving phylogenetic relationships are proposed and tested cladistically. Implications for the classification are discussed and a hypothesis on the evolution of the spermatheca is presented.
Keywords: Cassidinae, morphology
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA