Intravitam studies on the hemipteran, Leptocoris trivittatus. A description of the male reproductive organs and the aggregation and turning of the sperms

Abstract

Abstract A study of the male reproductive organs of a hemipteron, Leptocoris trivittatus, has been made. The genital system, which consists of fan‐shaped testes; the vasa deferentia, to which a single pair of accessory glands are attached; ejaculatory ducts and the copulatory apparatus, is described and photomicrographs of consecutive parts presented. Then an analysis of the method of aggregation and turning of the sperms is made by means of intravitam technic. Aggregation and turning commence in the early spermatid stage. A spherical cyst forms, the tails first grow centripetally and then push out toward the lower end of the cyst. This line of growth in the cyst moves the head ends of the spermatids to the upper end where aggregation gradually takes place. The cysts spiral up and across the follicles, the moving force being, probably, the elongating tails. Later they spiral down the follicle, development progressing rapidly. The descending bundles are mature sperm, held together by a cytoplasmic cap. The accessory gland secretes a milky substance which probably activates the sperm at a later stage. Peristalsis occurs in the wall of the gland and duct. The process of massing sperm into bundles before copulation insures effective translocation. Then peristalsis and movement of tubular fluids carry the sperm down the duct to the copulatory apparatus.