DEGENERATE (APYRENE) SPERM- FORMATION OF MOTHS. 465 
The Degenerate (Apyrene) Sperm-formation of 
Moths as an Index to the Inter-relation- 
ship of the Various Bodies of the 
Spermatozoon. 
By 
.1. Bronto Gatenby, B.A., 
Exhibitioner of Jesus College, Oxford. 
With Plate 26. 
Introductory. 
In late years much attention has been given to certain 
atypical spermatozoa in some insects and molluscs. On the 
latter especially a good many papers have appeared, and 
there has been much conjecture as to the function (if any) 
of these curious bodies. 
In some molluscs (Strombus, Reinke (1)) the atypical sperm 
is a most remarkable object, and many times larger than the 
typical sperm. 
The atypical spermatozoa have been called t( apyrene ” and 
“ oligopyrene ” according as to whether they were thought 
to contain no, or little, nuclear matter. 
That in insects, and this applies to the Lepidoptera, an 
atypic sperm so remarkably different from the typic as is the 
case in many molluscs, is ever found is extremely doubtful. 
But it is noteworthy that in such widely different forms 
as Lepidoptera and Prosobranch Mollusca, an analogous 
dimorphism should occur. We are tempted to inquire what 
in common have the conditions of these forms, and why, if 
these apyrene spermatozoa serve a special purpose, should 
nearly identical conditions arise under such widely different 
