Female reproductive system:

It consists of

1. A pair of ovaries that possess several ovarioles,

2. A pair of oviducts,

3. Common oviduct / Median oviduct,

4. Spermatheca,

5. A pair of accessory glands

6. Bursa copulatrix or copulatory pouch or genital chamber or vagina

a. Ovaries: These are the prominent visceral organs present on either side of the alimentary canal. Anteriorly the ovaries get connected with the body wall using thread-like suspensory ligaments.

b. Ovarioles: Each ovariole is enveloped by a double-layered cellular wall. The outer wall is called ovarial sheath which has an abundant supply of tracheae. The inner layer called tunica propria is elastic. Each ovariole at its terminal has a filament that unites with other filaments to form a suspensory ligament. The ligament is attached to the body wall or dorsal diaphragm and thus helps the ovaries to remain suspended in the proper place. The eggs are discharged into the lateral oviducts.

c. Lateral oviducts: The proximal end of the ovarioles of each ovary join to form a lateral oviduct on each side. The wall of the oviduct is glandular and muscular.

d. Median Oviduct: Two lateral oviducts combine to form a median oviduct.

e. Vagina: In most of the insect’s median oviduct does not open directly to the outside. It opens into a tubular genital chamber or vagina formed by the invagination of the body wall from the VIII segment. The vagina opens outside and the opening is called the vulva. The vulva serves both purposes of receiving the sperm and discharging the eggs.

f. Bursa Copulatrix: In some insects the genital chamber or vagina develops a separate pouch called Bursa Copulatrix in which insects have two reproductive openings. One is the vulva for receiving the sperms open on the VIII sternum and another one is the ovipore or gonopore on the IX segment for discharging eggs.

E. g.: Lepidoptera and water beetles

g. Spermatheca: It is a sac-like structure consisting of a spermathecal gland and opens into the agina through the spermathecal duct. This is mainly used for storing the sperms. It also produces some fluids responsible for the longevity of cells for several hours.

h. Accessory glands: These are a pair of collateral glands that open into the distal portion of the vagina and secrete the substance responsible for the formation of an ootheca of cockroach, preying mantid and poisonous secretions in the case of Hymenoptera. These sticky substances are useful for the attachment of eggs to the substrate on which they are laid.

Each ovariole in insects consists of a group of tapering units called ovarioles ranging from 4 to 8in different insects to more than 2000 in Isoptera. A typical ovariole or egg tube consists of 3 parts namely:

a. Terminal filament

b. Egg tube

c. Supporting stalk or pedicel