Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (585 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
The process of laying or shedding fully developed eggs (OVA) from the female body. The term is usually used for certain insects or fishes with an organ called ovipositor where eggs are stored or deposited before expulsion from the body.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Ovipositions; Larviposition; Larvipositions.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Reproduction
- See also
- Clutch Size; Oviparity
Related concepts
- Insects
- Fishes
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 10,935 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Oviposition” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 1,684 of them (15.4%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 3,445 records.
Reviews account for 245 records (2.2%) and meta-analyses for 11. Randomized controlled trials number 166 (1.5%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 3,445 |
| 2000-2009 | 2,757 |
| 2010-2019 | 3,049 |
| 2020 onward | 1,684 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 245 | 2.2% |
| Meta-analyses | 11 | 0.1% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 166 | 1.5% |
Method: PubMed query "Oviposition"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in anatomy and physiology
Anatomy describes how body structures are built and physiology describes how they normally work, so most findings here are descriptive or mechanistic rather than evidence about treatment. Much of what is known comes from dissection, imaging, tissue studies and experiments in animals, and measurements in healthy volunteers can differ from those in people with disease or at different ages. Normal ranges vary between individuals and populations. Check whether a result was measured in people or in another species, the age and health of the participants, and the method used.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
Wolbachia infections in natural Anopheles populations affect egg laying and negatively correlate with Plasmodium development [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- The maternally inherited alpha-proteobacterium Wolbachia has been proposed as a tool to block transmission of devastating mosquito-borne infectious diseases like dengue and malaria.
- Closing excerpt
- These data suggest that Wolbachia may be an important player in malaria transmission dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (144 words)
The maternally inherited alpha-proteobacterium Wolbachia has been proposed as a tool to block transmission of devastating mosquito-borne infectious diseases like dengue and malaria. Here we study the reproductive manipulations induced by a recently identified Wolbachia strain that stably infects natural mosquito populations of a major malaria vector, Anopheles coluzzii, in Burkina Faso. We determine that these infections significantly accelerate egg laying but do not induce cytoplasmic incompatibility or sex-ratio distortion, two parasitic reproductive phenotypes that facilitate the spread of other Wolbachia strains within insect hosts. Analysis of 221 blood-fed A. coluzzii females collected from houses shows a negative correlation between the presence of Plasmodium parasites and Wolbachia infection. A mathematical model incorporating these results predicts that infection with these endosymbionts may reduce malaria prevalence in human populations. These data suggest that Wolbachia may be an important player in malaria transmission dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 27243367 · DOI · PMC4895022
Food odors trigger Drosophila males to deposit a pheromone that guides aggregation and female oviposition decisions [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Animals use olfactory cues for navigating complex environments.
- Closing excerpt
- 9-Tricosene thus functions via Or7a to link food-odor perception with aggregation and egg-laying decisions.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (144 words)
Animals use olfactory cues for navigating complex environments. Food odors in particular provide crucial information regarding potential foraging sites. Many behaviors occur at food sites, yet how food odors regulate such behaviors at these sites is unclear. Using Drosophila melanogaster as an animal model, we found that males deposit the pheromone 9-tricosene upon stimulation with the food-odor apple cider vinegar. This pheromone acts as a potent aggregation pheromone and as an oviposition guidance cue for females. We use genetic, molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches to show that 9-tricosene activates antennal basiconic Or7a receptors, a receptor activated by many alcohols and aldehydes such as the green leaf volatile E2-hexenal. We demonstrate that loss of Or7a positive neurons or the Or7a receptor abolishes aggregation behavior and oviposition site-selection towards 9-tricosene and E2-hexenal. 9-Tricosene thus functions via Or7a to link food-odor perception with aggregation and egg-laying decisions.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 26422512 · DOI · PMC4621432
Activity of the C. elegans egg-laying behavior circuit is controlled by competing activation and feedback inhibition [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Like many behaviors, Caenorhabditis elegans egg laying alternates between inactive and active states.
- Closing excerpt
- Our results identify discrete signals that entrain or detach the circuit from the locomotion central pattern generator to produce active and inactive states.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (149 words)
Like many behaviors, Caenorhabditis elegans egg laying alternates between inactive and active states. To understand how the underlying neural circuit turns the behavior on and off, we optically recorded circuit activity in behaving animals while manipulating circuit function using mutations, optogenetics, and drugs. In the active state, the circuit shows rhythmic activity phased with the body bends of locomotion. The serotonergic HSN command neurons initiate the active state, but accumulation of unlaid eggs also promotes the active state independent of the HSNs. The cholinergic VC motor neurons slow locomotion during egg-laying muscle contraction and egg release. The uv1 neuroendocrine cells mechanically sense passage of eggs through the vulva and release tyramine to inhibit egg laying, in part via the LGC-55 tyramine-gated Cl- channel on the HSNs. Our results identify discrete signals that entrain or detach the circuit from the locomotion central pattern generator to produce active and inactive states.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 27849154 · DOI · PMC5142809
Natural noncoding pumilio variants retune value-coding interneurons to bias Drosophila oviposition decisions [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- How natural regulatory genetic variation creates innate biases in economic decisions through modifying circuit structure and function is rarely explored.
- Closing excerpt
- These findings offer a genome-to-circuit-to-behavior framework, revealing how subtle regulatory polymorphisms fine-tune circuit properties to diversify environment-appropriate decision biases in nature.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (148 words)
How natural regulatory genetic variation creates innate biases in economic decisions through modifying circuit structure and function is rarely explored. Here, we trace this link in a simple value-based decision in Drosophila: where to oviposit. Although laboratory flies (w1118) reject sucrose for a plain option, a wild-caught African strain accepts sucrose. This decision difference maps to three African-specific intronic SNPs in pumilio (pum), an RNA binding translational repressor. These SNPs down-regulate pum, derepressing its target, the sodium channel paralytic (para), in a pair of GABAergic interneurons that encode option value. Elevated para boosts neuronal excitability, compresses value contrast between sucrose and plain options, and promotes sucrose acceptance. Selectively reducing pum or overexpressing para in these neurons converts the laboratory flies' physiology and behavior to the African phenotype. These findings offer a genome-to-circuit-to-behavior framework, revealing how subtle regulatory polymorphisms fine-tune circuit properties to diversify environment-appropriate decision biases in nature.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42102200 · DOI · PMC13155294
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article A meta-analysis of preference-performance relationships in phytophagous insects [5]
- Research article Chemical ecology and behavioral aspects of mosquito oviposition [6]
- Research article Overview of bone biology in the egg-laying hen [7]
- Research article Plant responses to insect egg deposition [8]
- Research article Estrogen induction of VLDLy assembly in egg-laying hens [9]
- Research article Calcium transport in strongly calcifying laying birds: mechanisms and regulation [10]
References
- Shaw WR, Marcenac P, Childs LM, Buckee CO, Baldini F, Sawadogo SP, et al.. Wolbachia infections in natural Anopheles populations affect egg laying and negatively correlate with Plasmodium development. . 2016. PMID 27243367 · DOI · PMC4895022
- Lin CC, Prokop-Prigge KA, Preti G, Potter CJ. Food odors trigger Drosophila males to deposit a pheromone that guides aggregation and female oviposition decisions. . 2015. PMID 26422512 · DOI · PMC4621432
- Collins KM, Bode A, Fernandez RW, Tanis JE, Brewer JC, Creamer MS, et al.. Activity of the C. elegans egg-laying behavior circuit is controlled by competing activation and feedback inhibition. . 2016. PMID 27849154 · DOI · PMC5142809
- Motevalli D, Alfredson R, Fogleman S, Medrano E, Chen Y, Silander WI, et al.. Natural noncoding pumilio variants retune value-coding interneurons to bias Drosophila oviposition decisions. . 2026. PMID 42102200 · DOI · PMC13155294
- Gripenberg S, Mayhew PJ, Parnell M, Roslin T. A meta-analysis of preference-performance relationships in phytophagous insects. Ecol Lett. 2010. PMID 20100245 · DOI
- Bentley MD, Day JF. Chemical ecology and behavioral aspects of mosquito oviposition. Annu Rev Entomol. 1989. PMID 2564759 · DOI
- Whitehead CC. Overview of bone biology in the egg-laying hen. Poult Sci. 2004. PMID 14979569 · DOI
- Hilker M, Fatouros NE. Plant responses to insect egg deposition. Annu Rev Entomol. 2015. PMID 25341089 · DOI
- Walzem RL, Hansen RJ, Williams DL, Hamilton RL. Estrogen induction of VLDLy assembly in egg-laying hens. J Nutr. 1999. PMID 10064311 · DOI
- Bar A. Calcium transport in strongly calcifying laying birds: mechanisms and regulation. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2009. PMID 19118637 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-31.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.