Nervous tissue is an inherent component of the many specialized genital structures for transferring sperm directly into the female’s body. However, the male copulatory organ of spiders was considered a puzzling exception. Based on the recent discovery of nervous tissue in the pedipalps of two distantly related spider species, we investigated representatives of all major groups across the spider tree of life for the presence of palpal nerves. We used a correlative approach that combined histology, micro-computed tomography and electron microscopy. We show that the copulatory organ is innervated in all species investigated. There is a sensory organ at the base of the sperm transferring sclerite in several taxa and nervous tissue occurs close to the glandular tissue of the spermophor, where sperm are stored before transfer. The innervation of the copulatory organ by the bulb nerve and associated efferent fibers is part of the ground pattern of spiders. Our findings pave the way for unraveling the sensory interaction of genitalia during mating and for the still enigmatic mode of uptake and release of sperm from the male copulatory organ.

中文翻译：

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蜘蛛雄性交配器官（蜘蛛目）的神经支配——比较分析

神经组织是许多专门的生殖器结构的固有组成部分，用于将精子直接转移到女性体内。然而，蜘蛛的雄性交配器官被认为是一个令人费解的例外。基于最近在两种远缘蜘蛛物种的触须中发现的神经组织，我们调查了生命蜘蛛树中所有主要群体的代表，以了解触​​须神经的存在。我们使用了一种将组织学、微型计算机断层扫描和电子显微镜相结合的相关方法。我们表明交配器官在所有被调查的物种中都有神经支配。在几个分类群中，在精子转移的巩膜基部有一个感觉器官，神经组织靠近精子的腺体组织，精子在转移前储存在那里。球神经和相关的传出纤维对交配器官的神经支配是蜘蛛基本模式的一部分。我们的研究结果为揭示交配过程中生殖器的感觉相互作用以及从雄性交配器官吸收和释放精子的仍然神秘的模式铺平了道路。