Editing Ovipositor (section)

== In insects ==
[[File:Dolichomitus imperator Oviposition R Bartz.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The process of oviposition in ''[[Dolichomitus|Dolichomitus imperator]]''
{{olist
| Tapping with her antennae, the wasp listens for the vibrations that indicate a host is present
| With the longer ovipositor, the wasp drills a hole through the bark
| The wasp inserts the ovipositor into the cavity which contains the host larva
| Making corrections
| Depositing the eggs
}}]]

[[Grasshopper]]s use their ovipositors to force a burrow into the earth to receive the eggs. [[Cicada]]s pierce the [[wood]] of twigs with their ovipositors to insert the eggs. [[Symphyta|Sawflies]] slit the [[biological tissue|tissues]] of [[plant]]s by means of the ovipositor and so do some species of [[Ensifera|long-horned grasshoppers]]. In the ichneumon wasp genus ''[[Megarhyssa]]'', the females have a slender ovipositor (terebra) several inches long that is used to drill into the wood of [[tree trunks]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Sezen |first=Uzay |title=Two ichneumon wasps competing to oviposit |date=22 July 2012 |url=http://naturedocumentaries.org/1517/competing-wasps/ |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> These wasps are parasitic in the [[larva]]l stage on the larvae of [[horntail]] wasps, hence the egg must be deposited directly into the host's body as it is feeding. The ovipositors of ''Megarhyssa'' are among the longest egg-laying organs (relative to body size) known.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sezen |first=Uzay |title=Giant ichneumon wasp ovipositing |url=http://naturedocumentaries.org/3843/giant-ichneumon-megarhyssa-macrurus-ovipositing/ |access-date=15 February 2016}}</ref>

The [[stinger]]s of the [[Aculeata]] (wasps, hornets, bees, and ants) are ovipositors, highly modified and with associated [[venom]] [[gland]]s. They are used to paralyze prey, or as defensive weapons. The penetrating sting plus venom allows the wasp to lay eggs with less risk of injury from the host. In some cases, the injection also introduces virus particles that suppress the host's immune system and prevent it from destroying the eggs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~bio336/Bio336/Lectures/Lecture5/Overheads.html|title=Evolutionary Genetics|website=www.zoology.ubc.ca}}</ref>  However, in virtually all stinging [[Hymenoptera]], the ovipositor is no longer used for egg-laying. An exception is the family [[Cuckoo wasp|Chrysididae]], members of the Hymenoptera, in which species such as ''[[Chrysis ignita]]'' have reduced stinging apparatus and a functional ovipositor. 

[[Fig wasp]] ovipositors have specialized serrated teeth to penetrate fruits, but [[gall wasp]]s have either uniform teeth or no teeth on their ovipositors, meaning the [[morphology (biology) | morphology]] of the organ is related to the life history. <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elias |first1=Larissa |last2=Kjellberg |first2=Finn |last3=Farache |first3=Fernando Henriche Antoniolli |last4=Almeida |first4=Eduardo |last5=Rasplus |first5=Jean-Yves |last6=Cruaud |first6=Astrid |last7=Peng |first7=Yan-Quiong |last8=Yang |first8=Da-Rong |last9=Pereira |first9=Rodrigo Augusto Santinelo |title=Ovipositor morphology correlates with life history evolution in agaonid fig wasps |journal=Acta Oecologica |date=July 2018 |volume=90 |pages=109–116 |doi=10.1016/j.actao.2017.10.007 |bibcode=2018AcO....90..109E |s2cid=90329549 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02332942/file/Elias2018Ovipositor-morphologyTS.pdf }}</ref>

Members of the [[Fly|Diptera]]n (fly) families [[Tephritidae]] and [[Pyrgotidae]] have well-developed ovipositors that are partly retracted when not in use, with the part that sticks out being the oviscape. [[Oestridae]], another family within Diptera, often have short hairy ovipositors, the species ''[[Cuterebra fontinella]]'' has one of the shortest within the family.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Hadwen S |title=A description the egg and ovipositor of ''Cuterebra fontinella'', Clark (Cottontail Bot.)|journal=Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia |volume=5 |pages=88–91 |year=1915}}</ref>

Ovipositors exist not only in [[Pterygota| winged insects]], but also in [[Apterygota]], where the ovipositor has an additional function in gathering the spermatophore during mating. Little is known about the egg-laying habits of these insects in the wild. <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Matushkina |first1=Natalia A. |title=Ovipositor Internal Microsculpture in the Relic Silverfish Tricholepidion gertschi (Insecta: Zygentoma) |journal=Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |date=January 2011 |volume=2011 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1155/2011/563852 |url=http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/2011/563852.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/2011/563852.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=22 August 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref>