View allAll Photos Tagged MATE
Aren't butterflies amazing?!
A butterfly's life has four stages. It starts as an egg, typically attached to the underside of a leaf. The egg hatches into the butterfly's larval form -- the caterpillar. A caterpillar's job is to consume enough food to sustain itself during its transformation into a butterfly. This transformation takes place in the butterfly's pupal stage, when the butterfly is inside its chrysalis. Finally, an adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. While the larval butterfly was built for eating, the adult is built for mating.
Butterflies reproduce the way other animals do -- sperm from a male fertilizes eggs from a female. Males and females of the same species recognize one another by the size, color, shape and vein structure of the wings, all of which are species specific. Butterflies also recognize each other through pheromones, or scents. During mating, males use clasping organs on their abdomens to grasp females.
Mating Behavior
Once mature, a male dragonfly or damselfly establishes a territory from which he chases other males. When on territory, he produces packets of sperm called spermatophores at the tip of his abdomen (tenth segment), reaches the tip forward and places the spermatophores in a depression on the lower surface of the second abdominal segment.
With his sperm receptacle filled, the male flies out and grasps a female's head with his clasping genitalia at the abdominal tip. Each species' male genitalia fit the head of only the female of that species. (Slaty Skimmer Clamped in Tandem.) In some dragonflies and damselflies, the shape of the male genitalia is the most constant and accurate identifier of the insect's species.
Once the male has grasped a female, they fly in tandem for some time (Swamp Spreadwing in Tandem). The male usually flies while the female rests. Rarely, the female will fly while the male rests. It is unusual for both odonates to be flying at the same time.After some time, the female reaches the tip of her abdomen below her body and grasps the male's second segment to pick up the spermatophores he placed there. During this process, called the wheel formation, the two dragonflies take on a circular or heart-shaped pose. The two may stay in the wheel formation for upwards of fifteen minutes before the female releases and returns to the tandem position.
They seemed highly upset with my presence. After this click, I left them in peace.
Canada Goose (Branta Canadensis)
“The big, black-necked Canada Goose with its signature white chinstrap mark is a familiar and widespread bird of fields and parks. Thousands of “honkers” migrate north and south each year, filling the sky with long V-formations. But as lawns have proliferated, more and more of these grassland-adapted birds are staying put in urban and suburban areas year-round, where some people regard them as pests….. Canada Geese feed by dabbling in the water or grazing in fields and large lawns. They are often seen in flight moving in pairs or flocks; flocks often assume a V formation….. In a pattern biologists call “assortative mating,” birds of both sexes tend to choose mates of a similar size.”
Status : Least Concern
Source : Cornell University lab of Ornithology
Emigrant Lake – Jackson County – Oregon - USA
This is a mating pair of Britain's smallest butterfly; Small Blue taken a few weeks ago at a recently discovered site in Yorkshire. The slightly larger female is uppermost. The scientific name is Cupido minimus. Cupido is after Cupid (aka Eros), the god of love, and minimus means smallest, as it was the smallest butterfly known to science when it was described in 1775.
Mating Blue Damselflies seen at the lovely Brockholes nature reserve in Lancashire.
It's run by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust and has a wonderful floating visitor centre.
La Jolla, San Diego, California.
Adult Brown Pelicans are gray-brown with yellow heads and white necks. In breeding plumage (depicted in the photo), the back and sides of the neck turn a rich, dark reddish-brown.
(Lixus ochraceus) +/- 10 mm.
- Lazy handheld focus stacking 2 pics ^^ (Stacked with Zerene Stacker) -
Incredibly lucky today to see a male and female Red kites mating, I've seen it once before but no camera.. this time luck was with me!
Her eyes are closed, is she actually enjoying this or scared of losing an eye!
Canon 1DXII, F8, 1/2000, ISO 1600
Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers are also known as the yellow grasshopper of Florida. Unfortunately, these flightless grasshoppers can do alot of damage to citrus, vegetable crops, and gardens.
Flamingos in Basel Zoo performing their mating dance. Head flagging is one of the common dance moves. This warms the flock up to the idea of breeding and is most often started by the largest males, although both males and females join in.
Flamingos are serially monogamous. They mate for one year, get divorced, and find a new mate the next year. New mates are mutually agreed upon - males and females both dance in search of a compatible partner.
Thank you for your visits / comments / faves!
Grizzled Skipper - Langdon Hills, Basildon, Essex. Perseverance paid off! 9hrs I have spent looking for these and what a reward with this pair in CoP plus 2 other singletons.
Canon FD lens adapted via Metabones
South Pond, Lincoln Park - Chicago, IL
July 2021
Follow on Instagram @dpsager
I do like Crested Grebes and this fabulous couple decided to do a full on dance in front of me. Right place, right time !!