Germ cell death in the testis and its relation to spermatogenesis in the wax moth, Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), effects of facultative diapause

The dichotomous spermatogenesis of many Lepidopterans results in the production of two types of sperm: eupyrene sperm possessing a cell nucleus which participates in fertilisation, and apyrene ones, which lose their nuclei during development and whose function remains a mystery. The goal of our study was to analyse spermatogenesis at the end of the larval development of the wax moth, Galleria mellonella, at an optimal temperature of 30 degrees C as well as to describe how they are affected by diapause brought on by a reduction of temperature to 18 degrees C. Spermatogenesis in non-diapausing insects did not differ significantly from that described in other species of Lepidoptera, and any differences found were compared against available literature. Based on the results presented, it may be unequivocally stated that changes in spermatogenesis occur in diapause caused by a suboptimal temperature of 18 degrees C. The main effect of diapause observed in the testes is the degeneration of germ cells, immediately following their differentiation from bipotential spermatocytes. Eupyrene cells seem to reach a more advanced stage of development. Due to the absence of secondary eupyrene spermatocytes in the testis of diapausing insects, it may be surmised that the meiotic divisions, which lead to the formation of secondary spermatocytes and eventually spermatids, do not occur, or are somehow altered. Lastly, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) analyses we performed show that the degenerative changes of eupyrene cells are apoptotic in character.