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Polymorphism of spermatozoa in L argus rufipennis L aporte 1832 ( H eteroptera: P yrrhocoroidea: L argidae)

2012; Wiley; Volume: 93; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1463-6395.2011.00559.x

0001-7272

Vinícius Albano Araújo, Sônia Nair Báo, José Lino‐Neto,

Insect-Plant Interactions and Control

Abstract The production of polymorphic spermatozoa has been registered in various insect orders such as D iptera, L epidoptera, and H emiptera. In this work, morphology of two types of spermatozoa produced by L argus rufipennis was reported for the first time in the L argidae family. For this, techniques including optical and transmission electron microscopy were used. Spermatozoa measured, on the average, 260 and 200 μm, and both types possessed a nucleus measuring on the average 65 μm. No ultrastructural differences were observed between the two spermatozoa types from L . rufipennis . The head region is composed of an acrosome, a nucleus, and part of the centriolar adjunct. The centriolar adjunct is in parallel with the nucleus and followed by mitochondrial derivates. The flagellum consists of an axoneme (9 + 9 + 2 microtubules) and two mitochondrial derivatives; no other accessory bodies were observed. The mitochondrial derivatives are symmetric in size and diameter. A similar quantity of the two spermatozoa types was observed in the seminal vesicle (57% of the large type and 43% of the small type), while in the spermatheca of the female, the larger spermatozoa were preferentially stored (87%). These results permit discussions concerning of the species biology reproduction, most specifically sperm competition strategies.