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

Etymology

Origin of spermatheca

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

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

Others, again, believe that the queen has perfect control over the muscles that open and close the spermatheca on the vagina; and these muscles are certainly very numerous, complex, and powerful.

From The Life of the Bee by Alfred Sutro

In such other genera of the family as have been examined, the true spermatheca has entirely disappeared, and the sac which contains it in Hyperiodrilus alone remains.

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

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

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

In many Geoscolicidae, however, and certain Lumbricidae and Perichaetidae, there are several, even a large number, of pairs of very small spermathecae to each of the segments which contain them.

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

In the female there is in every fertile segment a pair of spermathecae opening at the nephridiopores.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 8 "Haller, Albrecht" to "Harmonium" by Various