The short spermatodesm of Arge pagana (Hymenoptera: symphyta)

Abstract

In the seminal vesicle of the ‘symphyta’ Arge pagana the spermatozoa are stored in motile spermatodesm bundles, maintained by an anterior cap of extracellular material. This cap consists of a denser cortex and of an internal matrix, where part of the sperm heads are embedded. The number of spermatozoa per bundle is variable. The spermatozoa are short, only 30 μm long, with a head region of about 23 μm, and a very short flagellum of about 7 μm. The head includes the acrosome, with a perforatorium, and the nucleus. The flagellum consists of an axoneme, with a 9 + 9 + 2 microtubule pattern, a centriolar adjunct, two mitochondrial derivatives and two accessory bodies. The mitochondrial derivatives are very slender and of different lengths. The longer begins at the base of the nucleus, while the shorter one starts just below the base of the centriolar adjunct. This latter is asymmetric and appears at the nuclear base, extending parallel to the axoneme up to the anterior end of the smaller mitochondrial derivative. The short spermatodesmata and the small mitochondrial derivatives characterize the A. pagana sperm. In addition, the centriolar adjunct asymmetry and the occurrence of spermatodesm bundles might be considered plesiomorphic states present in the basal Tenthredinoidea.