Comparison of effects of irradiation on the primary spermatogonia and mature sperm of three species of diptera.

X-ray doses of 2500, 5500, and 8500 roentgens were required to stop sperm production permanently by destroying primary spermatogonia in the house fly, Musca domestice L.; the black blow fly, Phormia regina (Meigen); and the secondary screw-worm, Cochliomyia macellaria (F.), respectively. These doses did not correlate closely with the doses required to sterilize males of the 3 species by inducing dominant lethal mutations in mature sperm. Some testes with no recognizable surviving spermatogonia still contained what appeared to be somatic cells that were undergoing replication 2 weeks posttreatment.