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The effects of drone age, semen storage and contamination on semen quality in the honey bee (Apis mellifera)
Author(s) -
LOCKE SARAH J.,
PENG YINGSHIN
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.1993.tb00461.x
Subject(s) - semen , biology , semen quality , sperm , sperm motility , andrology , honey bee , motility , contamination , sperm quality , drone , zoology , botany , anatomy , ecology , medicine , genetics
. The effect of semen storage time, drone age and semen contamination on honey bee semen quality was investigated using assays for motility and viability of semen in vitro. Four age groups (1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks) and five storage times (0, 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks) were examined. As storage time increased, sperm viability and motility significantly decreased. However, motility patterns of unstored semen samples were significantly lower than those samples that were stored up to 2 weeks. Sperm viability decreased significantly with increasing drone age, but motility patterns did not change. Those semen samples that were found to be contaminated with foreign particles or microorganisms had a significantly lower mean viability than uncontaminated samples.