copulation


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copulation

 [kop″u-la´shun]
sexual union or coitus; the transfer of the sperm from male to female; usually applied to animals other than humans.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

cop·u·la·tion

(kop'yū-lā'shŭn),
1. Synonym(s): coitus
2. In protozoology, conjugation between two cells that do not fuse but, rather, separate after mutual fertilization; observed in the ciliophora, as in Paramecium.
[L. copulatio, a joining]
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

copulation

The act of engaging in sexual intercourse.
Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

cop·u·la·tion

(kop'yū-lā'shŭn)
1. Synonym(s): coitus.
2. protozoology Conjugation between two cells that do not fuse but separate after mutual fertilization; observed in the ciliophora, as in Paramecium.
[L. copulatio, a joining]
Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

copulation

A joining together in the act of COITUS. The physical element in sexual intercourse.
Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

copulation

or

coitus

the act of coupling of male and female animals in sexual intercourse. In mammals the male organ (penis) penetrates the female and introduces the male SPERM. MATING is a term usually restricted to the behavioural aspects of pair formation and this occurs normally before copulation, while fertilization takes place only after copulation.
Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005
References in periodicals archive ?
During shorter mating periods, males may not meet the female as frequently as compared to longer mating periods where the male may meet the female repeatedly, leading to increased opportunity for copulation.
Decreases in the copulation rates and oocyte maturation in female mice housed with male mice may be explained by the pheromone hypothesis.
chape may occur due to failure in sexual recognition (Bailey and Zuk 2009, Bailey and French 2012) that can occur through pheromones left by females during previous matings (Thomas and Simmons 2009), or because postures or motor patterns of males are similar to females, inducing male's courtship or copulation (Wendelken and Barth 1985).
To determine whether copulation affects mobility, I placed copulating pairs (n = 30) and single bugs (n = 43) in an arena and measured average movement speed.
Effects of larval substrates on time to copulation, mate choice, and mating propensity.
Testis intercecal, postovarian, bacilliform 119 (101-131; n = 12) long, 30 (27-38; n = 12) wide, vas deferens looping left intestinal caecum; seminal vesicle saccate, immediately posterior to copulation complex; prostatic reservoir saccate, besides the seminal vesicle.
ludens, 6 d old control males had significantly more copulations than treated males (t = 9.65, df = 9, P < 0.001), while there were no significant differences for 9 and 12 d old flies (t < 1.90, df = 9, P > 0.083, Table 1).
In Tables 1 through 3 we give a summary of the known behaviors for different species of Scarabaeus and Kheper during the periods of feeding-gonad maturation, nesting and copulation. Here we analyze the different behavior sequences in an ecological context.
During copulation the position of the male's legs is as follows: foretarsi along anterior thorax of female; mesotarsi along pleural region of midabdomen of female; metatarsi along oviscape or distal portion of female's wings.
Because of the higher sperm investment in the first copulation, successive matings may cause a decrease in fertility in lepidopteran species.