Ultrastructure of aedeagus, spermatheca and ovipositor of Julodis ehrenbergii Laporte (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Julodinae) by scanning electron microscope.

The paper presents unknown ultrastructure observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) of aedeagus, spermatheca and ovipositor of Julodis ehrenbergii Laporte (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Julodinae) from Turkey. The studied specimens were collected from Çankiri and Çorum provinces which are new provincial records for Turkey, in July and August 2021. The genus Julodis Eschscholtz includes 49 species in the Palearctic region, while it is represented by seven species in Turkey. One of them, J. ehrenbergii Laporte is represented by only the nominate subspecies in Turkey. As known, aedeagus, spermatheca and ovipositor are taxonomically important structures. Before the present study, however, there are no work on these structures of J. ehrenbergii Laporte. For this reason, ultrastructural and detailed investigations of aedeagus, spermatheca and ovipositor of J. ehrenbergii Laporte from Turkey were firstly studied with SEM and stereo microscope to obtain new diagnostic characters in the genus Julodis Eschscholtz. The female spermatheca is found insignificant and not diagnostic but aedeagus is found important for diagnosis. In addition, the ultrastructural characters of the ovipositor can also be useful for diagnosis. Photos in SEM as well as photos in the stereo microscope are also given in the text. HIGHLIGHTS: Ultrastructural and detailed investigations of aedeagus, spermatheca and ovipositor of Julodis ehrenbergii Laporte from Turkey were firstly studied with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and stereo microscope to obtain new diagnostic characters in the genus Julodis Eschscholtz. New diagnostic characters that can be distinguished by SEM have been revealed in aedeagus, spermatheca and ovipositor structures, which are used for morphological differentiation of species.