Anatomy and Ultrastructure of Male Reproductive System in Two LeafhoppersCicadella viridisandKolla paulula(Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae)

Abstract

The morphology and ultrastructure of the male reproductive system were investigated in two species of sharpshooter leafhoppers, Cicadella viridis (L.) and Kolla paulula (Walker), using light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The gross morphology and ultrastructure of the male reproductive system in the two species is similar to those of other Cicadellidae and related Auchenorrhyncha. The two species differ in the number and shape of testicular follicles, the shape of the seminal vesicle, and the size and color of the accessory gland. The testicular follicle consists of the epithelium lying on a thick basal lamina surrounded by a connective sheath, and a wide lumen filled with germ cells. Large numbers of vesicles and granular materials are observed in the epithelial cell. The two seminal vesicles close-set under a common tunica are composed of the basal lamina, the thick muscular-connective sheath, a mono-layered epithelium, and the vesicular lumen. The vesicles and granules are extensive in the cytoplasm of the flattened epithelial cell, whose apical surface usually has numerous microvilli. The accessory gland is made up of thin muscular-connective sheath, the basal lamina, the epithelium, and the tubular lumen. The epithelial cell with secretory granules has abundant rough endoplasmic reticulum and small vesicles, and its cytoplasm abounds with arrays of three types of granules. Spermiogenesis and sperm ultrastructure of K. paulula was also observed, whose sperm can be distinguished from those of other Cicadellidae by the accessory bodies and mitochondrial derivatives with gap region.