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Fig. 3 | BMC Evolutionary Biology

Fig. 3

From: Rival seminal fluid induces enhanced sperm motility in a polyandrous ant

Fig. 3

Effects rival male seminal fluid on sperm motility parameters in A. echinatior with (blue bars) and without (white bars) own seminal fluid being present, which depended on whether we dissected accessory testes (AT) or accessory gland (AG) material (top picture). (a) Own seminal fluid had a positive effect on the proportion of motile sperm as compared to sperm deprived of any seminal fluid (first two bars; F1,142 = 8.69, P = 0.0037), but the highest proportion of motile sperm was found in the presence of rival male seminal fluid, irrespectively of own seminal fluid being present or not (last two bars compared to first two bars; F1,142 = 79.78, P < 0.0001). (b) Sperm swimming in Hayes saline were faster when collected from the accessory glands (with own seminal fluid) than from the accessory testes (first two bars; F1,142 = 13.81, P = 0.0003), and the highest velocity was found when seminal fluid from a rival male was present (last two bars compared to first two bars; F1,142 = 48.03, P < 0.0001). (c) Sperm linearity was greatest when seminal fluid from a rival male was present (last two bars compared to first two bars; F1,142 = 21.00, P < 0.0001) and own seminal fluid induced more linear sperm movement than controls without any seminal fluid (first two bars; F1,142 = 5.00, P = 0.0269). All bars represent means ± SE and levels not connected by the same letter are significantly different (Student’s t tests)

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