A Phase-Contrast Study of the Spermatozoa of a Tiger Beetle (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)2

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Abstract
Spermatozoa of the tiger beetle Cicindela belfragei Sallé, from testes and a spermatheca, were studied by phase-contrast microscopy. Spermatozoa that were presumably mature were 160μ–180μ long, and had an undulating membrane. These spermatozoa differ from most insect spermatozoa previously described in having a greatly elongate head or nucleus and a short tail, and in the extent of the undulating membrane which extends the entire length of the sperm. The undulating membrane and its associated structures are described, and evidence is presented that a centriole occurs at the anterior tip of the spermatozoon.