Adult Mediterranean Flour Moth:1 Effects of Temperature on Sperm Production and Periodicity of Testis and Vas Deferens Activity2

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Abstract
At constant temperatures of 17°, 22°, 27°, and 32°C, adult Mediterranean flour moths, Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller), released 3.1, 13.3, 22.6, and 12.7 bundles of eupyrene sperm/day from their testes, respectively. Several-fold more apyrene than eupyrene bundles were produced each day. From hourly samplings, sperm started out of the testes of moths held at the 3 highest temperatures at the beginning of the 8th–10th h after the start of the 12-h photophase. Sperm release from moths held at 17°C was usually not detectable until the beginning of the 12th h of the photophase. At both 27° and 32°C, most sperm passed from the upper vasa deferentia during the 8th–10th h of the scotophase. At lower temperatures, sperm remained in the upper vasa deferentia for increasing periods, and at 17°C the upper vasa deferentia were devoid of sperm for only a few hours. When moths were exposed to alternating temperature cycles (12 h at 11° and 12 h at 27°C), the quantity of sperm produced was the same whether the low temperature occurred during the photophase or the scotophase. When moths were exposed to a warm 12-h day, sperm usually started out of the testes during the 7th h of the photophase; when they were exposed to a cold 12-h day, release usually started during the 3rd h of the scotophase These patterns were shown to represent entrainment when moths of the 2 groups were transferred to continuous darkness at 27°C. Isolated abdomens showed the same pattern of entrainment as intact moths.