Functions of the spermathecal muscle of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis
1975; Elsevier BV; Volume: 21; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0022-1910(75)90099-2
ISSN1879-1611
Autores Tópico(s)Plant and animal studies
ResumoIn female boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis, spermathecal filling was not affected by severing the spermathecal muscles. Females whose spermathecal muscles were severed 2 to 4 weeks after mating laid infertile eggs and resumed virginal ovipositional behaviour indicating the importance of this muscle in supplying sperm for egg fertilization. The presence of normal active sperm within the spermatheca in no way influenced ovipositional behaviour. In females whose spermathecal muscles had been severed, 22 per cent sperm displacement occurred after a second mating compared with 66 per cent for normal females. The physical displacement of sperm was thus largely dependent on a functional spermathecal muscle.
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