| The sexual phase of the Plasmodium life cycle is completed with the fertilization of a macrogamete by a flagellar microgamete, and the subsequent generation of sporozoites. |
| Fertilisation occurs when the microgamete fuses with the macrogamete to form first a zygote, then a motile ookinete. |
| The nucleus of the female parasite moves to the surface where a small protuberance is formed and into this, penetrates the microgamete forming a zygote. |
| Each of these processes becomes a male gamete termed a microgamete which is equivalent to a mammalian spermatozoon. |
| One flagellum and most of the body of the penetrating microgamete had entered the macrogamete. |
| On coming into contact with this protuberance, a microgamete adheres. |
