spermatophore
{{Short description|Packet containing sperm in invertebrate reproduction}}File:Ambystoma spermatophores closeup.jpg]]
A spermatophore, from Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma), meaning "seed", and -φόρος (-phóros), meaning "bearing", or sperm ampulla is a capsule or mass containing spermatozoa created by males of various animal species, especially salamanders and arthropods, and transferred in entirety to the female's ovipore during reproduction. Spermatophores may additionally contain nourishment for the female, in which case it is called a nuptial gift, as in the instance of bush crickets.{{citation | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 8 | pages = 204 |year=2008 | doi = 10.1186/1471-2148-8-204 | pmc = 2491630 | title = Nuptial gifts fail to resolve a sexual conflict in an insect | author = Nina Wedell, Tom Tregenza & Leigh W. Simmons | pmid=18627603 | doi-access = free }}{{citation | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |year=2005 | volume = 272 | issue = 1575 | pages = 1877–1884 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2005.3152 |pmid=16191592 |pmc=1559891 | title = Costly but worthless gifts facilitate courtship | author = Peter D. Sozou & Robert M. Seymour}} In the case of the toxic moth Utetheisa ornatrix, the spermatophore includes sperm, nutrients, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids which prevent predation because it is poisonous to most organisms.{{cite journal|last1=Gonzalez|first1=A.|last2=Rossini|first2=C.|last3=Eisner|first3=M.|last4=Eisner|first4=T. |year=1999 |title=Sexually transmitted chemical defense in a moth (Utetheisa ornatrix) |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA |volume=96 |issue=10 |pages=5570–5574 |doi=10.1073/pnas.96.10.5570|pmid=10318925|pmc=21901|bibcode=1999PNAS...96.5570G |doi-access=free}} However, in some species such as the Edith's checkerspot butterfly, the "gift" provides little nutrient value. The weight of the spermatophore transferred at mating has little effect on female reproductive output.{{cite journal|last=Jones|author2=Odendaal, Ehrlich |title=Evidence against the spermatophore as paternal investment in checkerspot butterflies (Euphydras: Nymphalidae)|journal=American Midland Naturalist|date= January 1986|volume=116|issue=1|pages=1–6|doi=10.2307/2425932|jstor=2425932 }}
File:Giant squid spermatophore.jpg spermatophores]]
Arthropods
{{main|Arthropoda}}
Spermatophores are the norm in arachnids and several soil arthropods. In various insects, such as bush crickets, the spermatophore is often surrounded by a proteinaceous spermatophylax. The function of the spermatophylax is to cause the female to relinquish some of her control over the insemination process allowing full sperm transfer from the spermatophore.{{citation | author = K. Vahed | year = 1998 | title = The function of nuptial feeding in insects: review of empirical studies | journal = Biological Reviews | volume = 73 | pages = 43–78 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-185X.1997.tb00025.x | s2cid = 86644963 | url = http://www.famu.org/mayfly/pubs/zor/zorpub_vahedk1998p45.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311042845/http://www.famu.org/mayfly/pubs/zor/zorpub_vahedk1998p45.pdf | archive-date = 2012-03-11 }} Some species of butterflies and moths also deposit a spermatophore into the female during copulation. Examples include the speckled wood butterfly{{cite journal|last=Svärd|first=L.|title=Paternal investment in a monandrous butterfly, Pararge aegeria |journal=Oikos |year=1985|volume=45|issue=1|pages=66–70|doi=10.2307/3565223|jstor=3565223}} or the ornate moth, where males invest up to 10% of their body mass in creating a single spermatophore.{{cite journal|last=Iyengar|first=Vikram K.|author2=Thomas Eisner |title=Female choice increases offspring fitness in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix)|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA|year=1999|volume=96|issue=26|pages=15013–15016|doi=10.1073/pnas.96.26.15013|pmid=10611329|pmc=24764|bibcode=1999PNAS...9615013I |doi-access=free}} Malaysian stalk-eyed flies also deposit a spermatophore into the female during copulation, but the spermatophore is very small in size and occupies only part of the female's vaginal capacity. This is likely an adaptation to the tendency towards high mating frequency in this species.{{Cite journal|last=Kotrba|first=Marion|date=1996-07-01|title=Sperm transfer by spermatophore in Diptera: new results from the Diopsidae|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|volume=117|issue=3|pages=305–323|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1996.tb02192.x|issn=0024-4082|doi-access=free}} These butterfly species have been known to use mud-puddling behavior, as demonstrated by Dryas iulia, to obtain the minerals needed in spermatophore production.{{Cite journal|last1=Beck|first1=Jan|last2=Mühlenberg|first2=Eva|last3=Fiedler|first3=Konrad|date=1999-04-01|title=Mud-puddling behavior in tropical butterflies: in search of proteins or minerals?|journal=Oecologia|language=en|volume=119|issue=1|pages=140–148|doi=10.1007/s004420050770|pmid=28308154|bibcode=1999Oecol.119..140B |s2cid=20103546|issn=0029-8549}}
Cephalopods
{{main|Cephalopoda}}
Most cephalopods use a specialized arm called the hectocotylus to deliver spermatophores to the female. The spermatophores of the giant Pacific octopus are about a meter (or yard) long.{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoRepr.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Reproduction |author=Carefoot, Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=11 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422215052/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoRepr.php |archive-date=22 April 2017 |url-status=dead }} A complex hydraulic mechanism releases the sperm from the spermatophore, and it is stored internally by the female.{{cite book |title=Invertebrate Zoology |last1=Ruppert |first1=Edward E. |last2=Fox |first2=Richard S. |last3=Barnes |first3=Robert D. |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=W2v0kQEACAAJ |page=363}}|year=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-81-315-0104-7 |pages=363–364 }}
In some cephalopods, like the argonaut octopus, the arm is detachable and capable of autonomous movement and prolonged survival inside the female, to the point that it was mistaken for a parasitic worm by George Cuvier, who gave the hectocotylus (Latin: "hundred" "hollow thing") its name. In some cases, spermatophores from multiple males might be present inside the same female simultaneously.Marah J. Hardt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hzIoCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126 Sex in the Sea: Our Intimate Connection with Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters, Kinky Squid, and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep]
Salamanders and newts
{{main|Urodela}}
Males of most salamander and newt species create spermatophores, which the females may choose to take up or not, depending on the success of the male's mating display.{{cite book|last1=Wells|first1=Kentwood D.|title=The Ecology & Behavior of Amphibians|date=2007|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=9780226893334|pages=451–515|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDKEKy5JJbIC&pg=PA459|chapter=The Natural History of Amphibian Reproduction}}
See also
{{Portal|Animals}}