The spermatheca of the acridid Orthoptera Schistocerca americana and Dissosteira carolina both consist of a ductus seminalis and a receptaculum seminis that ends in two blind sacs called the apical and preapical diverticula. The diverticula of acridid grasshoppers show high morphological variation that might imply functional differences. A microscopic examination of the structure of the spermatheca surface of both species found the presence of numerous gland ductules, but a lack of acanthae typical of many acridids. A histological study of macromolecules in the spermatheca of mated females found large carbohydrate and protein secretions present in all chambers. The secretion was not present in virgin S. americana but was present in virgin D. carolina. These secretions are likely glycoproteins either secreted by female gland ductules or contributed from males. Lipids were limited to small droplets contained within epithelial cells lining the walls of the spermatheca of both mated and virgin females. Histological sections of the spermatheca were utilized to track the course of sperm bundles in the chambers at various intervals following copulation initiation. In S. americana sperm bundles are found primarily in the diverticula and appear to be degraded in the apical diverticulum. In D. carolina sperm bundles are seen in all chambers of the spermatheca except the ductus seminalis and maintain a constant distribution an hour into copulation. Implications of this study are discussed in relation to the function of acridid spermatheca and sperm organization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-07052004-091753 |
| Date | 19 July 2004 |
| Creators | Gardner, Grant E |
| Contributors | Marianne Niedzlek-Feaver, Lewis Deitz, Betty Black |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07052004-091753/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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