Morphostructural investigation on spermatozoa and sperm bundles of the leafhopper Balclutha brevis Lindberg 1954 (Hemiptera: Deltocephalinae)

Morphostructural investigations on male gametesand sperm bundles of Balclutha brevis Lindberg 1954,allochthonous species in Sicily and in mainland Europe,were carried out by light and electron microscopy, sincefew and fragmented data are known in this respect onleafhoppers, particularly of the subfamily Deltocephalinae.The peculiar feature of the structural organization ofB. brevis spermatozoa, for the first time shown in detailwithin Deltocephalinae, is the presence of apical blebs atthe anterior tip of the gametes; moreover, a branching ofthe flagellar end piece is observed. The sperm bundles ofB. brevis, whose genesis occurs in the follicular cysts, alsohave a peculiar organization within the Cicadomorpha. Infact, the gametes of the bundles are held together by meansof membrane junctions between their apical blebs. Spermbundles remain unchanged up to the lateral ejaculatoryducts where they undergo a rapid disorganization and thegametes, mostly free, are transferred into the female bursacopulatrix and then into the common oviduct, awaitingfertilization. Some spermatozoa isolated from the bundlesare found in the seminal vesicles where a spermiophagicactivity by epithelial cells is hypothesized.