Summary
It has been shown in Drosophila melanogaster that when 50 or fewer sperm are stored in the female, some 58% are found in the spermathecae and 42% in the ventral receptacle. When between 51 and 100 are stored, some 34% are found in the spermathecae and 66% in the ventral receptacle. The more commonly encountered distribution of 10–20% in the spermathecae and 80–90% in the ventral receptacle hold for higher levels of insemination (greater than 100 sperm). The reason for the relatively high proportion of sperm stored in the spermathecae when the total number of sperm stored is small is unknown. It is pointed out that in experiments dealing with sperm: progeny ratios, careful counting of sperm in the spermathecae becomes of critical importance, especially at low levels of insemination.
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References
Peacock, W. J., and J. Erickson: Segregation-distortion and regularly nonfunctional products of spermatogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 51, 313 (1965).
Sandler, L., Y. Hiraizumi, and I. Sandler: Meiotic drive in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. I. The cytogenetic basis of segregation-distortion. Genetics 44, 233 (1959).
Zimmering, S., and G. Fowler: X-irradiation of the Drosophila male and its effect on the number of sperm transferred to the female. Z. Vererbungsl. 98, 150 (1966).
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Supported by National Science Foundation research grant GB-3117.
National Science Foundation Undergraduate Research Participant, Summer 1966.
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Fowler, G.L., Eroshevich, K.E. & Zimmering, S. Distribution of sperm in the storage organs of the Drosophila melanogaster female at various levels of insemination. Molec. Gen. Genetics 101, 120–122 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336577
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00336577