Editing Strepsiptera (section)

=== Life cycle ===
[[File:Traumatic-insemination-and-female-counter-adaptation-in-Strepsiptera-(Insecta)-srep25052-s2.ogv|left|thumb|[[Traumatic insemination]] of an [[endoparasitic]] female in ''[[Stylops|Stylops ovinae]]'']]Virgin females release a [[pheromone]] which the males use to locate them.<ref name="insencyc" /> Mating in at least some species is [[Polyandry in nature|polyandrous]], where the female mates with more than one male.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Peinert |first1=Miriam |last2=Wipfler |first2=Benjamin |last3=Jetschke |first3=Gottfried |last4=Kleinteich |first4=Thomas |last5=Gorb |first5=Stanislav N. |last6=Beutel |first6=Rolf G. |last7=Pohl |first7=Hans |date=2016-04-29 |title=Traumatic insemination and female counter-adaptation in Strepsiptera (Insecta) |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=6 |pages=25052 |doi=10.1038/srep25052 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=4850473 |pmid=27125507|bibcode=2016NatSR...625052P }}</ref>

In the Stylopidia, the female's anterior region protrudes out between the segments of the host's abdomen. In all strepsipterans the male mates by rupturing the female's [[Arthropod cuticle|cuticle]] (in the case of Stylopidia, this is in a deep narrow fissure of the cephalothorax near the birth canal). Sperm passes through the opening directly into the body in a process called [[traumatic insemination]], which has independently evolved in some other insects like [[bed bug]]s.<ref name="insencyc" /><ref name=":1" />

Strepsiptera eggs hatch inside the female, and the [[planidium|planidium larvae]] can move around freely within the female's [[haemocoel]]; this behavior is unique to these insects.<ref name=":2">[[Ross Piper|Piper, Ross]] (2007), ''Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals'', [[Greenwood Press]].</ref> The offspring consume their mother from the inside in a process known as haemocoelous [[viviparity]]. Each female produces many thousands of planidium larvae.<ref name="borror" /> The larvae emerge from the brood opening/canal on the female's head, which protrudes outside the host body.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="borror">{{cite book|author1 = Borror, D.J.|author2 = Triplehorn, C.A.|author3 = Johnson, N.F.| year=1989 |title= Introduction to the Study of Insects|edition=6|publisher=Brooks Cole}}</ref>

Larvae have legs and actively seek out new hosts. Their legs are partly vestigial in that they lack a [[Arthropod leg#Trochanter|trochanter]], the leg segment that forms the articulation between the basal [[Arthropod coxa|coxa]] and the [[Arthropod leg#Femur|femur]].<ref name="borror" /> The larvae are very active as they only have a limited amount of time to find a host before they exhaust their energy reserves. These first-[[instar]] larvae have [[stemmata]] (simple, single-lens eyes). When the larvae latch onto a host, they enter it by secreting enzymes that soften the cuticle, usually in the abdominal region of the host. Some species have been reported to enter the eggs of hosts.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} Larvae of ''Stichotrema dallatorreanum'' Hofeneder from [[Papua New Guinea]] were found to enter their [[orthoptera]]n host's tarsus (foot).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kathirithamby | first1 = Jeyaraney | year = 2001 | title = Stand tall and they still get you in your Achilles foot-pad | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences | volume = 268 | issue = 1483| pages = 2287–2289 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1810| pmc = 1088878 | pmid=11703867}}</ref>

Once inside the host, they undergo [[hypermetamorphosis]] and transform into a less-mobile, legless larval form. They induce the host to produce a bag-like structure inside which they feed and grow. This structure, made from host tissue, protects them from the immune defences of the host. Larvae go through four more instars, and in each moult the older cuticle separates but is not discarded ("[[apolysis]] without [[ecdysis]]"), so multiple layers form around the larvae.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kathirithamby | first1 = Jeyaraney | last2 = Ross | first2 = Larry D. | last3 = Johnston | first3 = J. Spencer | year = 2003 | title = Masquerading as Self? Endoparasitic Strepsiptera (Insecta) Enclose Themselves in Host-Derived Epidermal Bag | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 100 | issue = 13| pages = 7655–7659 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1131999100 | pmid=12788973 | pmc=164643| bibcode = 2003PNAS..100.7655K | doi-access = free }}</ref> Male larvae pupate after the last moult, but females directly become neotenous adults.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Beani, Laura |year=2006|title= Crazy wasps: when parasites manipulate the ''Polistes'' phenotype| journal= Annales Zoologici Fennici |volume=43| pages=564–574 |url=http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anz43-free/anz43-564.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author = Kathirithamby, J |year=2000| title= Morphology of the female Myrmecolacidae (Strepsiptera) including the ''apron'', and an associated structure analogous to the peritrophic matrix| journal= Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume= 128|issue=3| pages=269–287| doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000.tb00164.x|s2cid=83484969 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The colour and shape of the host's abdomen may be changed and the host usually becomes sterile. The parasites then undergo [[pupation]] to become adults. Adult males emerge from the host bodies, while females stay inside. Females may occupy up to 90% of the abdominal volume of their hosts.<ref name="insencyc" /> Adult males are very short-lived, usually surviving less than five hours, and do not feed.<ref name="insencyc" />