The double spermatogenesis in Scutigera coleoptrata (Myriapoda, Chilopoda): macro- and microspermatocyte growth

In Scutigera coleoptrata, double spermatogenesis (macro and micro germinal cells) was reinvestigated by means of both image analysis and electron microscopy. Image analysis of the two cell-lines showed no differences in DNA content between the two types of spermatogenesis. The only difference found, with the exception of the size and the related number of organelles, was that in the macro-cell line the chromatin was well dispersed and not condensed, which is the opposite of what was observed in the micro-cell line. It is assumed that the level of activity related to this condensation process is at the origin of the two pathways of development.