The mesospermalege is a sac attached to the inner abdomen, under the ectospermalege. Sperm is injected through the male's aedeagus into the mesospermalege. In some species, the ectospermalege directly connects to the ovaries – thus, sperm and ejaculate never enters the hemolymph and thus never trigger an immune reaction. (The exact characteristics of the spermalege vary widely across different species of bed bugs.) The spermalege are generally found only in females. However, males in the genus "Afrocimex" possess an ectospermalege. Sperm remains in the spermalege for approximately four hours; after two days, none remains.