Fig. 4

Bracing structures on the male pedipalp of L. geometricus and their position during copulation with adult females a. Relative position of select structures during mating. Inset shows the interlocking mechanisms in detail; transparency is used to show the underlying structures. b The cymbial furrow where the base of the embolus is rested when in resting position is visible during insertion (dashed arrow). The cymbium bears a cymbial hook (full white arrow in b) that interlocks with a hood (empty white arrow in c) on the median apophysis like a snap button (white circle). The embolus d bears a protrusion at its base (full yellow arrow) that hooks into the socket (empty yellow arrow) at the base of the conductor e (yellow circle in a)