spermatheca

American  

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

noun

Zoology.

• spermathecae
  plural

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 /

• spermathecae
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• spermathecal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spermathecae
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of spermatheca

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spermatheca spermathecae

Some insects have a specialized sac, called a spermatheca, which stores sperm for later use, sometimes up to a year.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

"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 ● Jul. 29, 2014

These matriarchs were reproductively mature, but their spermatheca, chambers that store sperm postmating, remained bone dry, says Christian Rabeling, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University and a co-author of one of the 2009 studies.

From Science Magazine ● Jul. 18, 2011

These spermatozoa, whose number Dr. Leuckart estimates at twenty-five millions, are preserved alive in a special gland known as the spermatheca, that is situate under the ovaries, at the entrance to the common oviduct.

From The Life of the Bee by Alfred Sutro

But in rare cases in Helix aspersa a second spermatheca is found at the end of this second duct.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various

Or maybe they reach into the female’s secondary sperm-storage side-sacs, the spermathecae, to remove sperm, though they seem poorly located and insufficiently grabby for the task.

From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2011

No specialized system of spermathecae, sperm reservoirs, and copulatory apparatus, as in Oligochaeta; development generally through a larval form; reproduction by budding also occurs.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various

In a few Enchytraeidae and Lumbriculidae the spermathecae open at the distal extremity into the oesophagus, which is a fact difficult of explanation.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various

These sacs are dealt with later under the description of the spermathecae, which function they appear to perform.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various

No separate spermathecae or septal chambers for the development of the ova and sperm.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various

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