Development of secondary sexual characters in juvenile males of Benthana cairensis (Crustacea, Oniscidea, Philosciidae)

摘要

Terrestrial isopods undergo direct development in which the animals molt to juvenile stages after the manca stages in which the sex cannot be recognized. The first three juvenile stages of Benthana cairensis are described with emphasis on the male secondary sexual characters. The ontogeny of the genital papilla, pleopods 1 and 2 and pereiopods were followed. At the Juvenile I stage, males are characterized by a slightly developed papilla, although dimorphism of the pleopod 1 exopod and pereiopods is still not evident at this stage. In Juvenile II individuals, the sub-apical protrusion of the pleopod 1 exopod begins to appear, and it is more evident in Juvenile III. The complete formation of this protrusion is only seen when males reach a cephalothorax width of approximately 1.0 mm; dimorphism of the setation of the four pairs of pereiopods begins later and is evident when males reach approximately 1.04 mm CW.View full textDownload full textKeywordssexual maturity, pleopod protusion development, neotropical PhilosciidaeRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07924259.2011.557262