Females mated to seminase knockdown males retain more sperm 4 and 10 days after mating.

Abstract

<p>Sperm counts for seminase line 1 are shown for sperm stored at three timepoints after mating, as given on the x-axis. Line 2 yielded similar results. Asterisks indicate level of significance (*p<0.05; **p<0.01). (A) Total average number of sperm stored in both storage organs (2 h: t = −0.09, p = 0.93; 4 d: t = −1.6, p = 0.13; 10 d: t = −3.2, p<0.01). (B) Average number of sperm stored in the seminal receptacle only (2 h: t = −0.06, p = 0.96; 4 d: t = −2.8, p<0.01; 10 d: t = −3.2, p<0.01). (C) Average number of sperm stored in the paired spermathecae only; numbers are the sum of sperm stored in each spermatheca (2 h: t = −0.11, p = 0.91; 4 d: t = 2.2, p<0.05; 10 d: t = −1.1, p = 0.26). Samples sizes are, for bars from left to right: (A) 12, 14, 16, 10, 7, 15; (B) 17, 21, 18, 19, 7, 15; (C) 13, 14, 19, 10, 7, 15. Abbreviations: 2 h, 2 hours; 4 d, four days; 10 d, 10 days. Error bars indicate standard error.</p