spermatheca

American  

[spur-muh-thee-kuh] / ˌspɜr məˈθi kə /

noun

Zoology.

plural

spermathecae

1. a small sac or cavity in female or hermaphroditic invertebrates used to store sperm for fertilizing eggs, as in the queen bee.

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spermatheca British  

/ ˌspɜːməˈθiːkə /

noun

1. a sac or cavity within the body of many female invertebrates, esp insects, used for storing spermatozoa before fertilization takes place

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spermatheca Scientific  

/ spûr′mə-thē′kə /

plural

spermathecae

1. A receptacle in the reproductive tracts of certain female invertebrates, especially insects, in which spermatozoa are received and stored until needed to fertilize the ova.

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Other Word Forms

• spermathecal adjective

Etymology

Origin of spermatheca

1820–30; sperma- (variant of spermato-, spermo- ) + theca

Example Sentences

"We don't yet know what allows sperm to migrate beyond the spermatheca," Cutter said, referencing the female organ where fertilization takes place.

From The Verge

Mosquitoes mate just once in their lifetime, and the female stores the male’s sperm in an organ called a spermatheca.

From New York Times

The queen mates with as many as 20 drones in a single flight and stores millions of their sperm in an internal pouch called a spermatheca—sufficient supplies for a lifetime of egg-laying.

From Scientific American

After an interval 520 of some days—possibly weeks—the ova of the second Aplysia commence to descend the hermaphrodite duct; they become enclosed in a viscid secretion at the point where the albuminiparous gland opens into the duct intertwined with it; and on reaching the point where the spermathecal duct debouches they are impregnated by the spermatozoa which escape now from the spermatheca and meet the ova.

From Project Gutenberg

In Helix hortensis the spermatheca is simple.

From Project Gutenberg