Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (2001), 131: 251–307. With 38 figures doi:10.1006/zils.2001.0246, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on The female abdomen of the viviparous earwig Hemimerus vosseleri (Insecta: Dermaptera: Hemimeridae), with a discussion of the postgenital abdomen of Insecta KLAUS-DIETER KLASS Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark Received June 1999; accepted for publication January 2000 The viviparous, epizoic African earwigs of the genus Hemimerus are currently regarded as the sister taxon of the remaining Dermaptera (Forficulina). Exoskeleton, musculature, and part of the nervous system of the female abdomen, from segment IV on, are described. The morphological interpretation and homology relations of most components are discussed, using previous and original data on Forficulina, Zygentoma, Ephemeroptera, Orthoptera and Dictyoptera as a comparative framework. In the mid-abdominal segments some interesting similarities with Zygentoma are indicated. Focal issues in the postgenital abdomen are the terminal dorsal sclerites, the cercal muscles, and the paraprocts and associated muscles. Earlier hypotheses on the dermapteran postabdomen (opisthomere and pseudocercus hypotheses) and results from ontogenetic studies are scrutinized. Some interesting features detected in female Hemimerus are the immobilization of terga VIII–X by means of a thick internal cuticle layer, the lack of dorsal muscles on these terga, the shift of some insertions of cercal and rectal muscles from tergum X to tergum IX, and minute pits on the venters IX and X that could be spiracle vestiges. Some of these features occur also in other Dermaptera. Some abdominal characters suggest that Hemimerus is nested within the Forficulina. The lack of the clasper-shape in the cerci is not a strong argument against this. 2001 The Linnean Society of London ADDITIONAL KEY WORDS: cercus – genitalia – paraproct – postabdomen – Archaeognatha – Dictyoptera – Ephemeroptera – Zygentoma. INTRODUCTION 1984, 1985). The knowledge of abdominal morphology, however, has remained very incomplete: extant descrip- The genus Hemimerus has long been of particular tions of the exoskeleton are superficial, and data on interest to entomologists, on the one hand for its vi- the muscles and peripheral nerves are entirely absent. viparity and its habits as an epizoic on Cricetomys Information on these issues would be important for a rats, on the other for the debate on its taxonomic rank convincing phylogenetic placement of Hemimerus. either within or beside the Dermaptera (Popham, 1961; The first to claim a close relationship of Hemimerus Giles, 1974). Hansen (1894), Verhoeff (1902), and Jor- to the typical earwigs, Dermaptera Forficulina, was dan (1909) were the first to give useful treatments on Hansen (1894). Verhoeff (1902) and Jordan (1909), the external and internal morphology of Hemimerus. finding further similarities, agreed with him. Popham Deoras (1941a,b) gave some additions. Davies (1966) (1961) proposed to exclude Hemimerus from Derm- described changes in external morphology during aptera, but Giles (1974) suggested reinstating it within nymphal development. Heymons (1912) studied the Dermaptera. Nevertheless, both workers actually internal genitalia and early ontogeny in detail. Head agreed that Hemimerus is the sister taxon of the (re- and thorax morphology were exhaustively treated in maining) Dermaptera (i.e. Forficulina including Arix- some more recent contributions (Popham, 1962; Barlet, enia), their debate focusing on the ‘importance’ of certain characters and the taxonomic rank (order or suborder) of the groups in question. Popham (1985) E-mail: [email protected] re-examined the basal phylogeny of the Dermaptera 251 0024–4082/01/030251+57 $35.00/0 2001 The Linnean Society of London 252 K.-D. KLASS at some length and affirmed that Hemimerus is the cranidae), Pygidicrana v-nigrum Serville, 1831 (For- sister taxon of the remaining Dermaptera. Many of ficulina: Pygidicranidae), Diplatys sp. indet. (For- his arguments, however, are not very convincing. Al- ficulina: Pygidicranidae), Pyragra fuscata brasiliensis ternatively, one might suspect that many of the fea- (Gray, 1832) (Forficulina: Pygidicranidae), Karschiella tures in which Hemimerus seems more primitive than buettneri (Karsch, 1886) (Forficulina: Pygidicranidae), the Forficulina could be due to secondary reduction, and Ctenolepisma lineata (Fabricius, 1775) (Zyg- especially to paedomorphosis. Barlet (1985: 186) sus- entoma: Lepismatidae). ‘Forficulina’ is used here sensu pected such paedomorphic apomorphies in thorax mor- Popham (1985), i.e. as including the Arixeniidae. It phology. Hence, it cannot be excluded that Hemimerus should be noted that the Pygidicranidae as delimited is nested within the Forficulina. More detailed mor- herein (including Diplatyidae and Karschiellidae) are a phological information is, however, obviously needed paraphyletic assemblage comprising the lowest-grade before reasonable conclusions can be drawn. Forficulina (see Haas, 1995); the phylogenetic re- In the present study, the abdomen of female Hemi- lationships between their genera are largely un- merus is described from segment IV on, thus including resolved. When data from previous studies are referred typical (mid-abdominal: IV–VI), genital s.l. (VII–IX), to, the names of the respective taxa, mostly species, and postgenital segments (X, XI), and the telson. Exo- are specified as (in)completely as in the original papers. skeleton and musculature are considered exhaustively; After their first mention species are designated by the only setae, tracheae, and details of the hindgut are generic name alone. omitted. The nervous system is treated as far as pos- sible with the material at hand. The homology and the TERMINOLOGIES, MORPHOLOGICAL morphological interpretation of the components under INTERPRETATIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS consideration are discussed in a wide systematic frame, using selected other lower-grade Insecta for com- EXOSKELETON parison. Archaeognatha and Zygentoma are included The terminology follows essentially Snodgrass (1931, because many components are present in a more ple- 1933, 1935b). However, the ventral (s.l.: sternal and siomorphic condition than in Dermaptera and other pleural) abdominal sclerotizations are interpreted and Pterygota, and because these more primitive conditions designated based on more refined results on Ar- are important for the interpretation of many struc- chaeognatha (Bitsch, 1973, 1974a,b), Zygentoma tures. Ephemeroptera, Dictyoptera, and Orthoptera (Rousset, 1973), and Dictyoptera (Klass, 1998). In Ar- are included because for these the literature contains chaeognatha an abdominal segment has maximally the most elaborate data base on abdominal mor- five discrete ventral sclerites: the unpaired sternite phology. The highly controversial homologies and in- and intersternite and the paired coxites (bearing the terpretations of the postgenital abdominal sclerites stylus), laterocoxites (=subcoxae in Smith, 1969), and and muscles are a focal issue. Furthermore, the phylo- precoxites (e.g. Bitsch, 1973: fig. 2, 1974a: fig. 1). A genetic information content of a number of abdominal synthesis from Bitsch’s findings in Archaeognatha, characters is examined, and their bearing on the phylo- Rousset’s results on Zygentoma, McKittrick’s (1964) genetic placement of Hemimerus and on other inner- descriptions of nymphal Blattaria, and conditions in insect relationships is analysed. adult Dictyoptera led to an identification in these taxa of homologous sclerotization areas and muscle MATERIAL AND METHODS insertions on the venters of the female genital seg- ments VIII and IX (Klass, 1998). Sclerites cor- Of Hemimerus vosseleri Rehn & Rehn, 1935 (Hemi- responding to coxite and laterocoxite of merina: Hemimeridae) five females preserved in 80% Archaeognatha, and, accordingly, also the division ethanol were available. Most structures were studied between them, could be determined in Dictyoptera by dissection under a stereo microscope: dorsally, lat- (gonocoxa and laterogonocoxa in Klass, 1998; later- erally, and anteriorly in 80% ethanol. For small ogonocoxa IX=gonangulum). Sclerites corresponding muscles and some other structures the identity of to sternite, intersternite, and precoxite, however, could the tissue was checked under a light microscope. For not be identified because in Archaeognatha none of occasional comparison with Hemimerus and for the these sclerotizations bears muscle insertions that can reinvestigation of certain characters, specimens were be homologized with muscle insertions of Pterygota used of Apachyus chartaceus (de Haan, 1842) (For- (compare Bitsch, 1973: e.g. fig. 8); nor is there a hypo- ficulina: Apachyidae), Labidura riparia (Pallas, 1773) thesis for the demarcation of these sclerotizations in (Forficulina: Labiduridae), Forficula auricularia Lin- Zygentoma. Nevertheless, small unmuscled median naeus, 1758 (Forficulina: Forficulidae), Echinosoma sclerites in Dictyoptera were tentatively determined yorkense Dohrn, 1869 (Forficulina: Pygidicranidae), as homologues of sternite and/or intersternite and Tagalina burri Hincks, 1955 (Forficulina: Pygidi- were referred to as the sternum. It is furthermore ABDOMEN OF H. VOSSELERI 253 conceivable that the homologue of the archaeognathan delicate, hollow or massive, sclerotized to various ex- precoxite is included in the anterior portion of what tents or entirely membranous,