Editing Onychophora (section)

===Reproductive organs===
Both sexes possess pairs of [[gonad]]s, opening via a channel called a gonoduct into a common genital opening, the [[gonopore]], which is located on the rear ventral side. Both the gonads and the gonoduct are derived from true coelom tissue.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[File:Dissected Euperipatoides.jpg|thumb|A dissected ''[[Euperipatoides kanangrensis]]''. The two ovaries, full of stage&nbsp;II embryos, are floating to the bottom of the image.|300x300px]]
In females, the two [[ovary|ovaries]] are joined in the middle and to the horizontal diaphragm. The gonoduct appears differently depending on whether the species is live-bearing or [[ovipary|egg-laying]]. In live-bearing species, each exit channel divides into a slender oviduct and a roomy "womb", the [[uterus]], in which the embryos develop. The single [[vagina]], to which both uteri are connected, runs outward to the gonopore. In egg-laying species, whose gonoduct is uniformly constructed, the genital opening lies at the tip of a long egg-laying apparatus, the [[ovipositor]]. The females of many species also possess a sperm repository called the ''receptacle seminis'', in which sperm cells from males can be stored temporarily or for longer periods.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

Males possess two separate [[testes]], along with the corresponding sperm vesicle (the [[vesicula seminalis]]) and exit channel (the [[vasa efferentia]]). The two vasa efferentia unite to a common sperm duct, the [[vas deferens]], which in turn widens through the ejaculatory channel to open at the gonopore. Directly beside or behind this lie two pairs of special glands, which probably serve some auxiliary reproductive function; the rearmost glands are also known as anal glands.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Oliveira|first1=Ivo de Sena|last2=Franke|first2=Franziska Anni|last3=Hering|first3=Lars|last4=Schaffer|first4=Stefan|last5=Rowell|first5=David M.|last6=Weck-Heimann|first6=Andreas|last7=Monge-Nájera|first7=Julián|last8=Morera-Brenes|first8=Bernal|last9=Mayer|first9=Georg|date=2012-12-17|title=Unexplored Character Diversity in Onychophora (Velvet Worms): A Comparative Study of Three Peripatid Species|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=7|issue=12|pages=e51220|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0051220|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3524137|pmid=23284667|bibcode=2012PLoSO...751220O|doi-access=free}}</ref> A [[penis]]-like structure has so far been found only in males of the genus ''Paraperipatus'' but has not yet been observed in action.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

There are different mating procedures: in some species males deposit their [[spermatophore]] directly into the female's genital opening, while others deposit it on the female's body, where the cuticle will collapse, allowing the sperm cells to migrate into the female. There are also Australian species where the male place their spermatophore on top of their head, which is then pressed against the female's genitals. In these species the head have elaborate structures like spikes, spines, hollow stylets, pits, and depressions, whose purpose is to either hold the sperm and / or assist in the sperm transfer to the female. The males of most species also secrete a pheromone from glands on the underside of the legs to attract females.<ref name="The Australian Museum 2024"/>