Abstract
The behaviour of Cimex spermatozoa was studied in vitro in a medium developed from ripe coconut milk which initiated sperm motility and sustained sperm aggregation and disaggregation. Although sperm motility could be initiated in a variety of buffers, even in the absence of seminal fluid, oxygen was essential for initiating sperm motility. Rotenone and 2,4-dinitrophenol inhibited this initiation whereas cyanide and carbon monoxide did not. The anaerobic and aerobic nature of sperm metabolism were revealed by different gas-atmosphere experiments. Once anaerobic metabolism of sperm had been initiated in nitrogen atmosphere, it continued for a specific period even in the presence of oxygen and then the respiration subsequently shifted to oxidative pathway. These respiratory metabolic phases correspond to mesospermalege and haemocoelic phases of sperm migration in the female bug.
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