The sperm structure of the Scraptiidae (Coleoptera; Tenebrionoidea)

The sperm ultrastructure of two members of the Scraptiidae Anaspis pulicaria and A. lurida was studied. The results confirm the general organization of the sperm in the superfamily Tenebrionoidea. The sperm bundles at the end of the spermiogenesis show the same peculiar antiparallel distribution at the two opposite poles of the germ cyst, observed in other Tenebrionoidea. The sperm have a bi-layered acrosome, a long cylindrical nucleus with two infoldings at its basal region, two elliptical equal mitochondrial derivatives and two triangular accessory bodies. The flagellar axoneme has the common 9 + 9 + 2 microtubular pattern that at the tail end results disorganized. All these sperm characteristics are quite similar to those found in Pythidae, a closely related family, according to molecular data.