Spermatogenesis of Bruchus quadrimaculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Notwithstanding the fact that several species of Bruchidae have been used by geneticists for several years, no cytological studies have as yet been made on any member of this family of the Coleoptera. The present paper gives a general account of the spermatogenesis of Bruchus quadrimaculatus Fabr. The spermatogonia undergo two mitotic divisions. After the second division, the nuclei remain small and very dense for some time before the beginning of the growth phase. During this interval the nuclei do not assume again the characteristics of the interkinesis stages. In the primary spermatocytes typical tetrads are formed. The chromosomes are asymmetrically V‐shaped. The end of one arm of the ‘V’ fuses with the end of the corresponding arm of its synaptic mate. Disjunction takes place in the primary spermatocyte division. After the division of the secondary spermatocytes, the chromosomes become vesicular and form a reticular nucleus in the spermatid, after which the chromatin becomes deposited as a chromatin rim around the nuclear periphery. The diploid number of chromosomes is nineteen in spermatogonia and in male somatic cells, and twenty in female somatic cells. An unpaired X chromosome is present in the spermatogonia, which fails to divide in the primary spermatocyte division, but passes as a whole to one pole in advance of the autosomes. The X chromosome divides normally in the secondary spermatocyte division with the autosomes. In the method of sex determination, Bruchus does not follow the method of the majority of beetles, since most of those studied adhere to the X‐Y type.