THE SPERMATOZOON OF HALICTOPHAGUS-CHILENSIS HOFMANN (STREPSIPTERA, HALICTOPHAGIDAE)

The fine structure of mature spermatozoon of the strepsipteran Halicto phagus chilensis Hofmann was studied by light and transmission electro n microscopy. The spermatozoon was seen to have an elongated head and a tail with a <<9 + 9 + 2>> axoneme and two mitochondrial derivatives. The mono-layered acrosome is conical in shape and the long nucleus ha s an internal channel of uncondensed chromatin. The tail is five times longer than the head and the end of the axoneme shows progressive los s of microtubules. These findings are compared with the sperm ultrastr ucture of other strepsipteran species studied so far.