Evidence of Sperm Storage in Myotis Capaccinii (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Western Iran

Several species of the family vespertilionidae store spermatozoa for prolonged periodsprior to ovulation, but the reproductive strategy used by myotis capaccinii remains unknown.reproductive cycle of myotis capaccinii has been determined using macroscopic andmicroscopic examinations on two captured bats in spring and one male and one female rearedin a flight cage during winter. microscopic slides prepared from one male collected in late julyshowed spermatids indicating that spermatogenesis develops in summer. estimation of thevolume of testes and epididymis based on photographs taken on weekly intervals during latesummeruntil late winter in male, m. capaccinii shows that the rate of epididymis to testes volumeincreases by more than one order of magnitude from late summeruntil late winter. microscopicslides prepared from this bat indicate that decapacitated spermatozoa are packed in the tubulesin the epididymis in late winter.