Let’s say that you’re a male
Tropical House Cricket, and you’ve got your eyes set on a hot little female, with long elegant legs, big sparking compound eyes, a slender thorax, and an abdomen that goes on for days with curves like boom BOOM…
How do you woo her? You win her over by offering her a
spermatophylax.
Despite what you may guess, looking at the word, a spermatophylax doesn’t contain any sperm. Instead, this is a gelatinous mass that surrounds a smaller pouch, called an ampulla, which contains the sperm. It’s rich in vitamins, protein, and energy, and it helps protect the smaller ampulla pouch of sperm that’s inside.
You, the male cricket, form this spermatophylax and offer it to your female. It sticks to her body, and transfers the sperm to her as she eats it after sex. She has to eat through the spermatophylax before she can remove the ampulla, stopping the transfer of sperm.
