Sex is not all fun and games. I thought about this after catching two moths coupling on the side of the pavilion wall down at the lake. In the insect world, mating often involves life-and-death stakes, particularly for males. In the case of honeybees, drone bees die immediately after coupling with a queen in mid-air. During this dramatic mating flight, a drone’s endophallus is everted into the queen and subsequently detaches, resulting in severe abdominal injury that proves fatal. This sacrificial act ensures the queen is fertilized with enough sperm to start a new colony. Thanks, pal!
Similarly,
in the world of arachnids, male black widow spiders often meet a grim fate
during mating. After successfully mating, the male is frequently killed and
consumed by the female. This macabre ritual, known as sexual cannibalism,
provides the female with a nutritious meal that aids in the development of her
offspring.
Another
fascinating example of unique mating behaviors is found in the praying mantis.
During copulation, the female may decapitate the male, which paradoxically
increases the male’s reproductive success as his body continues the mating
process without the inhibitions controlled by his brain.
I am
not sure about the fate of the male moth in the pair I saw mating, but, given
that I have the technology, I will share a photograph I captured of the moths
joined together.
—Mitchell Hegman
It’s my understanding that male cats have reverse barbs on their penis, so it slips the female vagina, but it is hell on the female coming out. Perversely it is this pain coming out that causes the female to ovulate, thus in this case the early cat does not get sperm to the egg. Sloppy seconds leads to paternity. Strange how nature works.
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