Article
Spermiogenesis in Aedes aegypti (L.)
Cytologia
(1967)
Abstract
Spermiogenesis (Wilson 1925) describes those transformations in which spermatids dif ferentiate
into spermatozoa. The term is synonymous with spermateleosis. Spermiogenesis is a necessary
and interesting part of spermatogenesis: male gametes must pass from one parent to another,
propel themselves into a suitable environment (the spermathecae), and later penetrate and fertilize
female gametes. Such physiological versatility requires cells greatly modified from
undifferentiated spermatids. Male germ tissue thus provides an abundant source of cells under
going extensive and striking differentiation. Cellular organelles in particular may be
observed with unusual clarity, and perhaps for this reason spermiogenesis has been exhaustively
investigated with both the light and electron microscopes in many animal species. Fawcett
(1958) presented an extensive review of the literature emphasizing mammalian spermiogenesis and
sperm morphology. Edwards (1960) very briefly summarized work with the electron
microscope on insect spermiogenesis while Franzen ( 1956) dealt with much of the
literature on invertebrates other than insects.
Despite the abundance of reports on spermiogenesis in other forms the Diptera as a
whole remain relatively ignored. Specifically, sperm differentiation and morphology
has been investigated in the brachiceran species D1•osophila melanogaster (Cooper 1950, Yasuzumi et
al. 1958) and D. virilis (Yasuzumi et al. 1958, Clayton 1962), and in the nematoceran
Sciara coprophila (Doyle 1933). The present paper describes spermiogenesis and sperm
morphology in a nematoceran insect, Aedes aegypti (L.).
Disciplines
Publication Date
1967
DOI
10.1508/cytologia.32.450
Publisher Statement
Copyright © The Japan Mendel Society 1967
Citation Information
Elliot S Krafsur and Jack C. Jones. "Spermiogenesis in Aedes aegypti (L.)" Cytologia Vol. 32 Iss. 3-4 (1967) p. 450 - 462 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/elliot-krafsur/20/