Abstract
The spermatozoa of the 2 fruit fly species, Dacus oleae (Gmel.) and Drosophila melanogaster Meig. (Diptera), have been fixed in a glutaraldehyde-tannic acid mixture, followed by uranyl acetate postfixation, and the sperm tail studied by high resolution electron microscopy. Spermatozoa of both species were seen to possess a centriole containing 9 microtubular triplets. The centriolar A-, B- and C-subtubules have 13, 10 and 9 protofilaments, respectively. The outer subtubules (the C-subtubules) seem to be continuous with the accessory tubules of the main part of the tail. The accessory tubules and their intertubular material have a complex fine structure similar to that described in some other brachyceran flies. In the end piece of the sperm tail, the A-subtubules undergo degeneration, characterized by swelling and a loss of dynein arms and spokes. The tail region appears to be immotile, possibly to enable it better to stick to receptors on the egg micropyle.
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