Comparative spermatology in Plecoptera (Insecta): an ultrastructural investigation on four species

Abstract

The ultrastructure of spermatozoa of four Plecoptera species, Leuctra fusca Linnaeus, Brachyptera risi (Morton), Taeniopteryx stankovitchi Ikonomov, T. kuehtreiberi (Aubert), was investigated by light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence microscopy. The spermatozoa of all the species have a complex acrosome, are filiform and flagellate, with a ‘9+9+2’ axoneme flanked by two mitochondrial derivatives. However, the structure shows a certain interspecific heterogeneity. L. fusca has a short conical nucleus in the apical position and an axoneme flanked by two accessory bodies. In the sperm of the Taeniopterygidae, the nucleus is a long cylindrical body which lies between the two mitochondrial derivatives flanking the axoneme for most of its length. Our results suggest a close phylogenetic affinity between Plecoptera and the other orders of Polyneoptera, although the proposed sister-group relationship between Plecoptera and Embioptera cannot be confirmed.