FACULTATIVE STORAGE OF SPERMATOZOA BY THE FEMALE GEOFFROYS HORSESHOE BAT (RHINOLOPHUS-CLIVOSUS)

The winter breeding biology of Rhinolophus clivosus on the Gauteng Hig hveld, South Africa (25 degrees S), was investigated. In contrast with a previous study in Natal (29 degrees S). spermatozoa were net found to be stored in the uterine lumen and glands, since the spermatozoa we re phagocytosed by polymorphonuclear leucocytes in the uterus. Only 25 % of the females collected contained spermatozoa in their uterotubal j unctions and oviducts, where the spermatozoa. were oriented towards th e epithelium with their heads parallel to one another, an arrangement that is characteristic of sperm-storage sites. The uteri of 66% of the females were infiltrated by large numbers of polymorphonuclear leucoc ytes. most probably in response to recent inseminations, The results i ndicate that only 25% of the females retained spermatozoa in their rep roductive tracts for an undetermined length of time, whereas 66% of th e females were most likely inseminated but did not store spermatozoa f or the duration of the winter (May to August). In contrast with R. cli vosus in Natal, females of this species on the Gauteng Highveld do not uniformly store spermatozoa for prolonged periods and sperm storage s eems to be the responsibility of the males. This illustrates the diver gent geographic variability in the reproduction of this species.