Fig. 2

Schematic diagram of the oviposition processes of head louse females. For better view, accessory gland was graphically removed, and connecting area of accessory gland was marked with a yellow circle. Stage I, all mature eggs are still inside the ovary (~ 170 min); stage II, mature eggs are ovulated into the anterior oviduct (~ 40 min). During ovulation, a mature egg first moves to the other side of lateral oviduct, thereby changing its position to upside down, and then to the anterior oviduct; stage III, mature eggs stay inside the uterus and are coated with nit sheath gel materials in the dorsal end of the uterus (~ 80 min); stage IV, coated eggs move to the posterior oviduct where crosslinking begins. Actual images corresponding to each stage were provided in the bottom row. ov, ovary; ao, anterior oviduct; vu, ventral end of uterus; du, dorsal end of uterus; ag, accessory gland; po, posterior oviduct; v, vulva