Comparison of chiasma frequency was made in male and female meiocytes of the widely cultivated &a fabu L. and its close wild allies in the Ir,, narbonensk species complex. Contrary to most of the earlier reports of higher chiasma frequency in female sex cells, a higher chiasma frequency was observed in male sex cells. This pattern is restricted to the species representing the Narbonensis complex, since Kcciafaba shows identical chiasma frequency in male and female sex cells. The genetic significance of these findings is that chiasma formation in the sex cells of the putative allies is governed and regulated by similar controlling systems of genes, but that of K fuba indicates a different kind of system.