![Spermathek Acanthoscurria geniculata](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Spermathek_Acanthoscurria_geniculata.jpg)
The spermatheca (pronounced plural: spermathecae ), also called receptaculum seminis (plural: receptacula seminis), is an
organ of the female reproductive tract in
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s, e.g.
ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
s,
bees, some
molluscs,
oligochaeta
Oligochaeta () is a subclass of animals in the phylum Annelida, which is made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the various earthworms. Specifically, oligochaetes comprise the terrestrial megadrile earthworm ...
worms and certain other
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s and
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
s. Its purpose is to receive and
store sperm from the male or, in the case of
hermaphrodites
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have sep ...
, the male component of the body. Spermathecae can sometimes be the site of
fertilization
Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...
when the
oocyte
An oocyte (, ), oöcyte, or ovocyte is a female gametocyte or germ cell involved in reproduction. In other words, it is an immature ovum, or egg cell. An oocyte is produced in a female fetus in the ovary during female gametogenesis. The female ...
s are sufficiently developed.
Some species of animal have multiple spermathecae. For example, certain species of earthworms have four pairs of spermathecae—one pair each in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th segments. The spermathecae receive and store the spermatozoa of another earthworm during copulation. They are lined with
epithelium
Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellul ...
and are variable in shape: some are thin, heavily coiled tubes, while others are vague outpocketings from the main reproductive tract. It is one of the many variations in sexual reproduction.
The nematode ''
Caenorhabditis elegans'' has two spermathecae, one at the end of each gonad. The ''C. elegans'' spermatheca is made up of 24 smooth muscle-like cells that form a stretchable tubular structure.
Actin filaments line the spermatheca in a circumferential manner. The ''C. elegans'' spermatheca is used as a model to study
mechanotransduction
In cellular biology, mechanotransduction ('' mechano'' + '' transduction'') is any of various mechanisms by which cells convert mechanical stimulus into electrochemical activity. This form of sensory transduction is responsible for a number of ...
.
An
apiculturist may examine the spermatheca of a dead
queen bee
A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...
to find out whether it had received
sperm
Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, whi ...
from a male.
In many species of stingless bees, especially ''
Melipona bicolor
''Melipona bicolor'' , commonly known as Guaraipo or Guarupu, is a eusocial bee found primarily in South America. It is an inhabitant of the Araucaria Forest and the Atlantic Rainforest, and is most commonly found from South to East Brazil, B ...
'', the
queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
lays her eggs during the provisioning and oviposition process and the spermatheca fertilizes the egg as it passes along the
oviduct
The oviduct in mammals, is the passageway from an ovary. In human females this is more usually known as the Fallopian tube or uterine tube. The eggs travel along the oviduct. These eggs will either be fertilized by spermatozoa to become a zygote, o ...
. The
haplo-diploid system of
sex determination makes it possible for the queen to choose the sex of the egg.
[Koedam, D., et al. "The Behaviour Of Laying Workers And The Morphology And Viability Of Their Eggs In Melipona Bicolor Bicolor." Physiological Entomology 26.3 (2001): 254-259. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.]
See also
*
Cyphopod
Cyphopods, also known as vulvae, are paired sacs in female millipedes that located on the underside of the third body segment that store sperm and connect to the oviduct
The oviduct in mammals, is the passageway from an ovary. In human females th ...
s, sperm receptacles in female millipedes
*
Female sperm storage
Female sperm storage is a biological process and often a type of sexual selection in which sperm cells transferred to a female during mating are temporarily retained within a specific part of the reproductive tract before the oocyte, or egg, is fe ...
*
Reproductive system of gastropods
References
{{reflist
Animal reproductive system
Sexual anatomy
Animal anatomy
Reproduction