Ever wonder where we humans get our mating rituals from? We give jewelry, candy and
flowers to our beloveds. Every life form on this planet has their own mating rituals,
including bugs. Just about everyone has heard that the female praying mantis rips off the
head of her partner after mating and eats it. But were you aware that the female mantis
will often consume her mate's head during sex? Being decapitated doesn't deter the male
mantis from finishing what he's begun. If the male mantis has mounted the female before
she begins to devour his head, he will successfully complete copulation without it.
One bug, the male Red Velvet Mite, Dolichothrombium spp., a cousin of the tick and the
chigger, grows an entire garden for his beloved; a “love garden to be precise. The male
mite releases his sperm onto small twigs; one scientist compared it to strings of golf balls
in trees. The male mite will then lay down an intricate silken trail leading to the “love
garden”, hoping to entice a female to follow. If a female mite decides to seek out the
"artist" and if she likes his work, then she will gather up some sperm. If another male
mite spots the “love garden”, he will destroy his competitor’s garden and construct one of
his own!
Many spiders, such as the Black Widow spider, share mating habits with the Praying
Mantis. Many spider females commonly kill and eat the males, either before or after
mating. So, to increase his odds of survival, the male spider created a number of
ingenious devices for the delivery of sperm. Depending on the species of spider, the male
may never actually touch the female, but instead transfers his sperm into a small patch of
silk (called a "purse"), and then either will maneuver the female's genital opening over
this package or will use his palps to place the purse into the female himself from a safe
distance. This way he may be able to complete the transfer of his genetic material without
the female getting wise to it, and definitely without arousing her to violent action against
him.
Alternately, a male spider can use the small hooks on front legs to gently force the female
backward, trapping her, and her large mandibles, so they cannot be used against him. He
can hold her in place, set his sperm purse where it needs to be, and then drop the female
and run for his life. The male of one wolf spider species will bring a gift of food to the
female, often wrapped in his silk, to occupy her while he mates, and without this gift the
female is unlikely to allow it to happen. In one of the crab spiders the male will gently
wrap the female in silk to immobilize her, although oddly she easily breaks the silken
bonds once the mating is completed. One of the large orb weaver species has a male that
just moves in with a female when he detects she is about to molt to her mature stage, a
time in her life when she is more passive. Immediately following the molting process the
male passes his sperm to her before her new jaws can harden, and then makes his escape.
The mating process of scorpions can also be a precarious time for the male scorpion, for
the male could end up as the female's dinner. Mating will take place between a male and
a female, but not until a rather elaborate courtship ritual is performed. As the male
approaches he may begin shaking or rocking, also known as “juddering”, creating
vibrations in the substrate that signal to the female that he is nearby. Some of the other
steps in the scorpion mating process include: clubbing (beating each other up), cheliceral
massage (bug kissing), promenade a deux (dancing) and the all important - post-mating
escape.
The reproductive cycle of bees is just as fascinating – and complex. A virgin queen that
survives to adulthood without being killed by her rivals will take a mating flight with a
dozen or so male drones (out of the thousands of eligible bachelors in the colony). Being
selected is a mixed blessing for the drones. Yes, these drones may get the opportunity to
propogate the next generation of bees, but this priviledge comes at a price. During
mating, the drones’ genitals explode and snap off inside the queen! Fatal as it is, this
makes evolutionary sense: the snapped-off penis acts as a plug to prevent other drones
from fertilizing the queen.
The male bedbugs don’t even bother with the female’s sex organs. Instead, a male
bedbug uses its scimitar-like sexual organ to impale the female bedbug’s body and
deposit his sperm! Scientists even have a name for this action: "traumatic insemination."
No kidding!
The title of world’s longest sperm actually belongs to a tiny fruit fly called Drosophila
bifurca. When the coiled sperm is straightened out, it measures about 2 inches which is
over 1,000 times longer than a human sperm. In fact, the testes of a fruit fly makes up
11 percent of the body mass of the male! The very long sperm evolved due to the just-aslong female reproductive tract, which is like an obstacle course, complete with harsh
chemicals to weed out weak sperm.
One of the oddest practices in the mating world belongs to a breed of fly. Its technical
name is Serromyia femorata, a type of biting midge. The flies take up a position during
mating which resembles kissing. Afterwards, the female midge sucks ALL the body fluid
out of the male through his mouth.
Thankfully, we humans have kinder, gentler versions of these mating rituals. We give
each other presents, and dance ‘til the wee hours of the morning. After learning about
these few insect mating practices, my husband was much happier to buy some jewelry
this Valentine’s Day. There’s less chance of anything exploding, becoming impaled or
getting ripped off and eaten.