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

• spermathecal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of spermatheca

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

Example Sentences

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

In descending the oviduct to be deposited in the cells, they pass by the mouth of this seminal sac or spermatheca, and receive a portion of its fertilizing contents.

From Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee A Bee Keeper's Manual by Langstroth, L. L. (Lorenzo Lorraine)

On the contrary, when she is egg-laying in drone cells, this compression cannot take place, the mouth of the spermatheca is kept closed, and the eggs are, necessarily, unfecundated.

From Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee A Bee Keeper's Manual by Langstroth, L. L. (Lorenzo Lorraine)