In the female insect, the spermatheca is an ectodermal organ responsible for receiving,
maintaining, and releasing sperm to fertilize eggs. The number and morphology of …

Successful management of invasive pests, such as Drosophila suzukii, relies on a fine
understanding of their biology. Genomic and physiological studies have suggested that the …

Bees are economically and ecologically important pollinating species. Managed and native
bee species face increasing pressures from human-created stressors such as habitat loss …

Insect spermathecae play a crucial role in sperm storage and maintenance prior to egg
fertilization. Within eusocial insects, this structure is well studied in the Hymenoptera, whose …

Females of social Hymenoptera only mate at the beginning of their adult lives and produce
offspring until their death. In most ant species, queens live for over a decade, indicating that …

All social insects with obligate reproductive division of labor evolved from strictly
monogamous ancestors, but multiple queen-mating (polyandry) arose de novo, in several …

During storage, the viability of sperm in a honey bee (Apis mellifera) queen's spermatheca
can be decreased by reactive oxygen species. We hypothesized that the expression of …

Task specialization in social insects leads to striking intra-specific differences in behaviour,
morphology, physiology and longevity, but the underlying mechanisms remain not yet fully …

Ant queens mate on a single occasion early in life and store millions of sperm cells in their
spermatheca. By carefully using stored sperm to fertilize eggs, they can produce large …

Bacteria can damage sperm and thus reduce the reproductive success of both males and
females; selection should therefore favour the evolution of antimicrobial protection. Eusocial …