becomes a functional spermatozoon or male gamete. The gametogeny of
the male therefore closely resembles that of the female, differing
from it only in the fact that all the four products of the progamete
become functional gametes, whereas in the female only one, the ovum,
becomes functional, the other three (polar bodies) being abortive. In
the spermatogenesis of the bee, however, the spermatocyte only divides
once, giving rise to a small polar-body-like structure and one
spermatid (Meves, _Anat. Anzeiger_, 24, 1904, pp. 29-32). The nucleus
of the male gamete is not called the male pronucleus, as would be
expected, that term being reserved for the second nucleus which
appears in the ovum after fertilization. As this is in all probability
derived entirely from the nucleus of the spermatozoon, we should be
almost justified in calling the nucleus of the spermatozoon the male
pronucleus. In most forms in which the formation of the gametes from
the progamete has been accurately followed, and in which the progamete
of both sexes divides twice in forming the gametes, the division of
the nucleus presents certain peculiarities. In the first place,
between the first division and the second it does not enter into the
resting state, but immediately proceeds to the second division. In the
second place, the number of chromosomes which appear in the final
divisions of the progametes and assist in constituting the nuclei of
the gametes is half the number which go to constitute the new nuclei
in the ordinary nuclear divisions of the animal. The number of
chromosomes of the nucleus of the gamete is therefore reduced, and the
divisions by which the gametes arise from the progametes are called
reducing (_maiotic_) divisions. It is not certain, however, that this
phenomenon is of universal occurrence, or has the significance which
is ordinarily attributed to it. In the parthenogenetic ova of certain
insects, e.g. _Rhodites rosae_ (Henking), _Nematus lacteus_
(Doncaster, _Quart. Journal Mic. Science_, 49, 1906, pp. 561-589),
reduction does not occur, though two polar bodies are formed.
Fertilization.
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