The Lock-and-Key Hypothesis: Evolutionary and Biosystematic Interpretation of Insect Genitalia

Abstract

If I see number of keys, of very minute and elaborate workmanship, all different, I cannot doubt that every one is intended to fit some special lock . . . and this conviction is the stronger, the more varied and the more complex are the keys. We cannot withhold hearty assent to the conclusion of one of the most eminent of modem physiologists, who, speaking of these organs in the class of Insects generally, says, They prevent allied species from producing bastards by adulterous connexions; for the hard parts of the male correspond so exactly with those of the female, that the organs of one species cannot fit those of another (Siebold). And Leon Dufour speaks of them as a guarantee of the conservation of Types, and safeguard for the legitimacy of species. But I should like to see these axioms demon�strated .