noun
- a specialized organ in female insects and some other invertebrates that stores sperm after mating
Usage: biological term
Examples
- The queen bee’s spermatheca can store sperm for several years.
- Entomologists study the spermatheca to understand insect reproduction.
- The spermatheca allows female insects to fertilize eggs long after mating.
- In many ant species, the queen’s spermatheca contains enough sperm for a lifetime.
- Researchers examined the spermatheca under a microscope to count stored sperm.
- The structure of the spermatheca varies among different insect families.