ИСТИНА

We have analyzed diagnostic characters of genitalia of Lepidoptera with different strategies of prezygotic reproductive isolation and sexual behavior on the base of our own studies and literature data. The fritillaries of subgenus Mellicta Billberg, 1820 of the genus Melitaea Fabricius, 1807 (Nymphalidae) are one of the model groups showing high diversity of diagnostic characters of genitalia among butterfly species characterized by monandry. Our detailed analysis of the genital structure of males and females and the study of genitalia interaction during copulation showed that the lock-and-key mechanism apparently had an important role in the evolution of the diversity of genitalia of this group. The main diagnostic characters in the subgenus Mellicta are the structures of both sexes interacting with each other during mating. Groups with species that reproductively isolate by pheromone communication also often exhibit a high diversity of diagnostic genital traits. These groups include mainly moth families. Most species of these groups are polyandrous; the diversity of genitalia is determined primarily by sexual selection. One of the multiple examples of such groups are the pyralid moths (Pyralidae) of the genus Ephestia Guené e, 1845. An important diagnostic feature in Ephestia is the number and structure of signa on the bursa copulatrix. It is known that the main function of signa is breaking the envelope of spermatophores and the reasons of its diversity include the counteradaptation of females of polyandrous species to the evolution of resistant spermatophore envelope. Similar patterns are found in many other groups of Lepidoptera. The Psychidae family is an example of a monandrous group with prezygotic reproductive isolation by chemical communication. Their genitalia exhibit a simple structure and low variability. This pattern is most certainly caused by a lack of a significant contribution to their evolution by the types of selection discussed above. In monandrous groups of Papilionoidea with wellmarked characters of the wing coloration, for example, in the genus Nymphalis Kluk, 1780, closely related species also generally have a low level of variability of diagnostic genital characters.