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Is there a lock-and-key mechanism in the genitalia of the Apamea moths (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)? Sei-Woong Choi Department of Ecology and Systematics, Division of Population Biology, P. 0. Box 17 (P. Rautatiekatu 13), FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland The existence of a lock-and-key mechanism of insect genitalia was proposed about 150 years ago by Dufour who examined dipteran species and concluded that genitalia had a great interspecific variability, and they worked as a mechanical isolating mechanism. After his paper, however, this hypothesis has become a highly disputable hypothesis in systematics and ecology. One of the weakest points of this theory is that it is phenetic, because the hypothesis mainly deals with the morphological characters of the genitalia. In addition to this, it seems that mechanical isolating mechanisms are often superseded by other mechanisms (e.g. behavioural, physiological). This study was carried out by examining the correlation of mechanical fitting parts of male and female internal genital organs of 24 Apamea moths (including 4 ssp.) and the correlation between body size and male genitalia to test a selection pressure. Furthermore, I made the different phylogenetic trees with Hennig86 from male and female genital morphological characters and compared these trees to prove compatibility. Edward proposed the plural view for explaining genital evolution. Different groups of animals may have totally different selective pressures on their mode of copulation. Similarly, a given species may be subject to more than one selective pressure promoting genital differentiation.