Comparative analysis of the testes and spermatogenesis in species of the family Pentatomidae (Heteroptera)

Abstract

Abstract. There are few studies on the morphology and meiosis in the testicles of Heteroptera, but are extremely important, especially for the family Pentatomidae, because in some species in this family meiosis in the testicular lobes results in the production of non-fertile spermatozoa. With the aim of improving the level of understanding of this phenomenon the morphology of the testes and spermatogenesis in 10 species of Pentatomidae were recorded and compared. All of them have testes covered by a pigmented peritoneal sheath. In some species the internal membrane or just inside the peritoneal sheath is pigmented. The pigmentation of both membranes varied. The pigmentation of both was either yellow, or the internal membrane was yellowish and the external one reddish. When the membrane is pigmented, the colour is red or yellow. The number of lobes varied from 3 to 7, with intermediate numbers of 4 and 6. The size and diameter of the lobes are similar in all the species studied, except Proxys albopunculatus, in which the diameter of the third and fifth is smaller than that of the other lobes. The behaviour of the cells during spermatogenesis was the same in all lobes of most species, except in P. albopunctulatus, in which the harlequin lobe is absent and the cells in lobes 4 and 6 exhibited characteristics different from those of cells in lobes 1-3 and 5. Chlorocoris complanatus and Loxa deducta (both Pentatominae) have a harlequin lobe (lobe 5). The chromosome complements recorded were: 2n = 12 (10A + XY) in Dichelops melacanthus and Edessa collaris, 2n = 14 (12A + XY) in C. complanatus, Edessa meditabunda, Ladeaschistus sp., Loxa deducta, P. albopunctulatus, Piezodorus guildinii and Thyanta perditor and 2n = 16 (14A + XY) in Edessa affinis. Thus, this study extends the knowledge of characteristics, such as the pigmentation of the peritoneal sheath, number of testicular lobes, the occurrence of meiotic cells in some testicular lobes, and the chromosome complements of the family Pentatomidae.

A synopsis of the numbers of testicular follicles and ovarioles in true bugs (Heteroptera, Hemiptera) – sixty-five years of progress after J. Pendergrast’s review

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Morphological and Morphometric Parameters of the Reproductive Organs of Euschistus heros (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Treated With a Sublethal Juvenile Hormone Analog

“…The standard development of spermatogenesis in insects occurs from the apical to the basal region towards the vas deferens, and the germ line cells are characteristically arranged in cysts (Roose-Runge, 1977). In E. heros, the different types of testicular follicles were analyzed in a series of studies (Aguiar et al, 2017;Cremonez et al, 2019;De Souza et al, 2011;Gomes et al, 2013), as well as their characteristic sperm polymorphism. Morphologically, it was possible to distinguish three types of sperm, with type 1 being more common in the follicles of the most proximal half (F1-F3); type 2 sperm, which is morphometrically similar to type 1 and is produced in the characteristically thinner F5; and type 3 sperm, produced in follicles F4 and F6, are naturally more voluminous and up to 4x longer than the others.…”