Egg-laying in female insects.

<p>Diagram showing the steps involved in egg-laying in female insects (solid lines) and the interactions that may stimulate increased egg-laying (dashed lines). In boxes are steps that may be mediated by seminal fluid proteins. The interaction between sperm storage and ovulation is hypothesized based on the observation that sperm transfer may increase ovulation and sperm depletion, thereby affecting the number of eggs laid. The figure is re-drawn from Bloch Qazi et al. (2003).