An ootheca (: oothecae ) is a type of

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

capsule made by any member of a variety of species including

mollusks Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The num ...

(such as ''

Turbinella laevigata ''Turbinella laevigata'', common name the Brazilian chank, is a species of very large sea snail with a gill and an operculum, a marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Turbinellinae of the family Turbinellidae.Rosenberg, G. (2010). Turbinell ...

''),

mantises Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate a ...

, and

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

es.

Etymology

The word is a Latinized combination of ''oo-'', meaning "egg", from the Greek word ''ōon'' (cf. Latin ''

ovum The egg cell or ovum (: ova) is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is not capa ...

''), and ''theca'', meaning a "cover" or "container", from the Greek ''theke''. Ootheke is Greek for

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

Structure

Oothecae are made up of structural

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

s and tanning agents that cause the protein to harden around the eggs, providing protection and stability. The production of ootheca convergently evolved across numerous insect species due to a selection for protection from parasites and other forms of predation, as the complex structure of the shell casing provides an evolutionary reproductive advantage (although the fitness and lifespan also depend on other factors such as the temperature of the incubating ootheca). Oothecae are most notably found in the orders

Blattodea Blattodea is an order (biology), order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetics, genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach ...

(Cockroaches) and

Mantodea Mantises are an Order (biology), order (Mantodea) of insects that contains List of mantis genera and species, over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids") ...

(Praying mantids), as well as in the subfamilies

Cassidinae The Cassidinae (tortoise and leaf-mining beetles) are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae. The antennae arise close to each other and some members have the pronotal and elytral edges extended to the side and covering the legs so a ...

(

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

) and Korinninae (

Phasmatodea The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida or Phasmatoptera) are an Order (biology), order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick bugs, walkingsticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred ...

Functions

The ootheca protects the eggs from

microorganisms A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...

parasitoids In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

predators Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

, and weather. Its composition and appearance vary depending on species and environment.

Image gallery

File:Cockroach egglaying 1.jpg, Female cockroach (''

Periplaneta americana The American cockroach (''Periplaneta americana'') is the largest species of common cockroach, and often considered a pest. In certain regions of the U.S. it is colloquially known as the waterbug, though it is not a true waterbug since it is not ...

'') with ootheca File:Blatella germanica cdc.jpg, Female cockroach (''

Blatella germanica The German cockroach (''Blattella germanica''), colloquially known as the croton bug, is a species of small cockroach, typically about long. In color it varies from tan to almost black, and it has two dark, roughly parallel, streaks on the Prot ...

'') with ootheca Mantis ootheca in Marine Park (91115).jpg,

Chinese mantis The Chinese mantis (''Tenodera sinensis'') is a species of mantis native to Asia and the nearby islands. In 1896, this species was accidentally introduced by a nursery tender at Mt. Airy near Philadelphia, United States. ''Tenodera sinensis'' o ...

ootheca File:Mantis ootheca Sliced open (Hierodula patellifera).jpg,

Sagittal The sagittal plane (; also known as the longitudinal plane) is an anatomical plane that divides the body into right and left sections. It is perpendicular to the transverse plane, transverse and coronal plane, coronal planes. The plane may be in ...

section of mantis ootheca (''

Hierodula patellifera ''Hierodula patellifera'', commonly known as giant Asian mantis, Asian mantis, Indochina mantis and Harabiro Mantis, is a species of praying mantis in the family Mantidae. They are found in Malaysia, Hawaii, India, Nepal, Italy ( San Paolo Solbri ...

'') already hatched out File:Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa religiosa) Ootheca 02.jpg, Praying mantis (

Mantis religiosa The European mantis (''Mantis religiosa'') is a large Hemimetabolism, hemimetabolic insect in the Mantidae family, which is the largest family of the order Mantodea (mantises). Their common name praying mantis is derived from the distinctive post ...

) ootheca in Ontario, Canada. File:Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa religiosa) Ootheca 06.jpg, Damaged praying mantis (

) ootheca in Ontario, Canada. File:Mantodea oothecae-Kadavoor-2016-03-25-001.jpg, Praying mantis ootheca in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

File:Ootheca of a Blattodea.jpg, Ootheca of a

blattodea Blattodea is an order (biology), order of insects that contains cockroaches and termites. Formerly, termites were considered a separate order, Isoptera, but genetics, genetic and molecular evidence suggests they evolved from within the cockroach ...

File:Blaptica dubia ootéka.jpg, alt=Blaptica dubia, Blaptica dubia – ootheca in an artificial colony Praying mantis (Mantis religiosa) ootheca Cap Bon.jpg, Praying mantis (''Mantis religiosa'')

References

External links