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Structure and Development of Male Accessory Glands in Insects

  • Chapter
Insect Ultrastructure

Abstract

Reproductive accessory glands of male insects facilitate transfer of sperm to the females. The heterogeneous products of these glands include both the seminal fluids and paraseminal structures. The secretions vary widely in physical properties, biochemical composition, and physiological function. Secretions of low viscosity bathe the sperm. Within that fluid mixture are components which promote sperm maturation, which provide nourishment for stored sperm, which contribute nutrients for investment into egg yolk, or which modulate the behavior or the physiology of the female (Leopold, 1976). Secretions of higher viscosity solidify to become copulatory plugs (Bishop, 1920; Bairate and Perotti, 1970) or complex spermatophores (Tuzet, 1977). These organized secretory masses are composed of several distinct zones that form as the glandular products flow over one another in extracellular space.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, 05405, USA

    George M. Happ

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  1. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Robert C. King

  2. Sericultural Experiment Station, Yatabe, Ibaraki, Japan

    Hiromu Akai

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Happ, G.M. (1984). Structure and Development of Male Accessory Glands in Insects. In: King, R.C., Akai, H. (eds) Insect Ultrastructure. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2715-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2715-8_10

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