part_of adult female reproductive system adult vestibular vagina Fig. 16-1, Fig. 16-2, Fig. 16-3, Fig. 16-19, Fig. 16-20, Fig. 16-21, in Biology of Ticks ISBN:0-19-505910-7. TADS:0000441 TADS:0000441 The vestibular vagina is the elongated, rounded tube that connects the muscular cervical vagina to the female genital pore. In ixodid ticks, it is approximately 320 - 360 microns long. It is somewhat shorter in argasid ticks. The vestibular vagina is lined with cuticle folded into trabeculae thereby forming a thick layer about 15 - 20 microns across. A thin layer of epithelial cellssurrounds the cuticular lining. In ixodid. Tthe vestibular vagina is surrounded by a multilobed glandular epithelium, the lobular accessory gland. This gland is absent in argasid ticks. A pair of tubular accessory glands are located at the junction ofthe vestibular vagina with the cervical vagina and empty into the vagina at this juncture. In ixodid ticks, the vestibular vaginaenlarges greatly during oviposition, the walls thin and stretch and the tube functions as a primitive ovipositor, assisting in propelling the egg from the vagina out through the genital pore. default_namespace simple organ female organism