View allAll Photos Tagged copulating
The mating season is from mid-May to early July, shifting later the further north the bears are found. Being serially monogamous, brown bears remain with the same mate from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Outside of this narrow time frame, adult male and female brown bears show no sexual interest in each other. Females mature sexually between the age of 4 and 8 years of age, with an average age at sexual maturity of 5.2-5.5 years old, while males first mate about a year later on average, when they are large and strong enough to successfully compete with other males for mating rights. Males will try to mate with as many females as they can, usually a successful one mates with two females in a span of one to three weeks. The adult female brown bear is similarly promiscuous, mating with up to four, rarely even eight, males while in heat and potentially breeding with two males in a single day. Females come into oestrus on average every three to four years, with a full range of 2.4 to 5.7 years. The urine markings of a female in oestrus can attract several males via scent. Paternity DNA tests have shown that up to 29% of cubs in a litter will be from two to three different males. Dominant males may try to sequester a female for her entire oestrus period of approximately two weeks but usually are unable to retain her for the entire time. Copulation is vigorous and prolonged and can last up to an hour, although the mean time is about 23–24 minutes.
Males take no part in raising their cubs – parenting is left entirely to the females. Through the process of delayed implantation, a female's fertilized egg divides and floats freely in the uterus for six months. During winter dormancy, the fetus attaches to the uterine wall. The cubs are born eight weeks later, while the mother sleeps. If the mother does not gain enough weight to survive through the winter, the embryo does not implant and is reabsorbed into the body. There have been cases of bears with as many as six cubs, although the average litter size is 1-3, with more than four being considered uncommon . There are records of females sometimes adopting stray cubs or even trading or kidnapping cubs when they emerge from hibernation (a larger female may claim cubs away from a smaller one). Older and larger females within a population tend to give birth to larger litters.The size of a litter also depends on factors such as geographic location and food supply. At birth, the cubs are blind, toothless, hairless, and may weigh from 350 to 510 g (0.77 to 1.12 lb), again reportedly based on the age and condition of the mother. They feed on their mother's milk until spring or even early summer, depending on climate conditions. At this time, the cubs weigh 7 to 9 kg (15 to 20 lb) and have developed enough to follow her over long distances and begin to forage for solid food
NEW JERSEY 2017 (Year End) BALD EAGLE PROJECT REPORT
ANOTHER PRODUCTIVE YEAR FOR NJ’S EAGLES
by Larissa Smith, CWF Wildlife Biologist
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ in partnership with the NJ Endangered and Nongame Species Program has released the 2017 NJ Bald Eagle Project Report. In 2017, 178 eagle nests were monitored during the nesting season. Of these nests 153 were active (with eggs) and 25 were territorial or housekeeping pairs. One hundred and ninety young were fledged.
In 2017 the number of active nests was three more than in 2016, but the number young fledged decreased by 27 from a record high of 216 fledged in 2016. The productivity rate this season of 1.25 young/active nest is still above the required range of 0.0 to 1.1 for population maintenance. Productivity could be lower this season for many reasons including weather, predation and disturbance to the nesting area. In 2017 nest monitors reported several instances of “intruder” eagles at nests which did disrupt the nesting attempts of several pairs. One of these “eagle dramas” unfolded at the Duke Farms eagle cam watched by millions of people. An intruder female attempted to replace the current female. This harassment interrupted the pairs bonding and copulation and no eggs were laid.
This year’s report includes a section on Resightings of banded eagles. Resightings of NJ (green) banded eagles have increased over the years, as well as eagles seen in NJ that were banded in other states. These resightings are important, as they help us to understand eagle movements during the years between fledging and settling into a territory, as well as adult birds at a nest site.
For more info: www.conservewildlifenj.org/blog/2017/12/06/new-jersey-201...
New Jersey Bald Eagle Project Report | 2017 may be downloaded here: www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/eglrpt17.pdf
Brown Hare ~ Havergate Island ~ Orford Ness ~ Sufflolk ~ England ~ Saturday July 25th 2015.
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Well, a few years ago I was mostly on Havergate Island in Orford Ness, Suffolk....Where I managed to capture this guy munching away in the early evening sunshine....although to get this shot I had to crawl 200m on my belly with my backpack on my back, to get close enough to get a half decent shot! The hare must have thought I was a giant tortoise lol...either way, he was nonplussed enough to let me get to within 4 feet of him...which was nice.:)
Have a wonderful Hump Day Wednesday Ya'll..:)
Hare ~ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ~
"Jackrabbit", "Lepus", and "Leveret" For other uses, see Hare (disambiguation), Jackrabbit (disambiguation), Lepus (disambiguation) and Leveret (disambiguation).
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares are classified into the same family as rabbits and are of similar size, form, and diet as rabbits. They are generally herbivorous, long-eared, and fast runners, and typically live solitarily or in pairs. Hare species are native to Africa, Eurasia, North America, and the Japanese archipelago.
Five leporid species with "hare" in their common names are not considered true hares: the hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), and four species known as red rock hares (comprising Pronolagus). Meanwhile, jackrabbits are hares rather than rabbits.
A hare less than one year old is called a leveret. The collective noun for a group of hares is a "drove"
Biology ~ Hares are swift animals: The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) can run up to 56 km/h (35 mph). The five species of jackrabbit found in central and western North America are able to run at 64 km/h (40 mph), and can leap up to 3m (ten feet) at a time.
Normally a shy animal, the European brown hare changes its behavior in spring, when hares can be seen in daytime chasing one another; this appears to be competition between males to attain dominance (and hence more access to breeding females). During this spring frenzy, hares can be seen "boxing"; one hare striking another with its paws (probably the origin of the term "mad as a March hare"). For a long time, this had been thought to be intermale competition, but closer observation has revealed it is usually a female hitting a male to prevent copulation.
Differences from rabbits ~ Hares do not bear their young below ground in a burrow as do other leporids, but rather in a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass called a form. Young hares are adapted to the lack of physical protection, relative to that afforded by a burrow, by being born fully furred and with eyes open. They are hence precocial, and are able to fend for themselves soon after birth. By contrast, the related rabbits and cottontail rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless.
All rabbits (except the cottontail rabbits) live underground in burrows or warrens, while hares (and cottontail rabbits) live in simple nests above the ground, and usually do not live in groups. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. Hares have not been domesticated, while rabbits are kept as house pets. The domestic pet known as the "Belgian hare" is a rabbit that has been selectively bred to resemble a hare.
Hares have jointed, or kinetic, skulls, unique among mammals. They have 48 chromosomes while rabbits have 44.
IT CAN NOW BE REVEALED that the father of Bristol Palin's love-child, Tripp, is in fact God's own true Holy Monkey, Bubbles - Michael Jackson's chimpanzee friend - and that poor young Levi is just a ringer.
Bubbles was sent down from Heaven to father an homunculus Saviour Child with the Righteous Hockey Mom Sarah herself, who would then thwart Satan's evil plans on Earth in these "End Times".
But unfortunately for the Palins and their fundamentalist beliefs, cross-species human/animal copulation/marriage was made illegal in Alaska in 1978, after it was discovered that the true mother of future US President [and Anti-Christ] Damien Thorne was not the wife of the US Ambassador to England, but an italian jackal! And that the father was old Beelzebub himself!!!
So even when preparing for "good" bestiality, Sarah (the "whack job") and Todd wouldn't be able to reverse these crazy "human only" marriage laws until after she became US President, and they'd get to run The World together (the way they did Alaska) and use nuclear weapons to rid it of of all the Evil Demons of Satan camping out in every dark corner, everywhere.
So... a few years ago, after being abandoned at a deserted Neverland, a sad, sick and confused Bubbles was bought by Madonna in a child/monkey adoption auction on eBay for her kid collection, and taken to her huge stone castle in the remote & bleak Highlands of Scotland (geography note - opposite direction from Russia, Sarah!).
But her cockney gangster [ex] husband Guy Ritchie is a weird sicko, and friend of Dick Cheney, who behind Madonna's back used to beat poor Bubbles mercilessly and make him perform degrading and humiliating sex-acts.
Instead of the ripe, fresh bananas and loving caresses he was used to from Michael Jackson, Guy and Dick water-boarded him, and fed him only cold scraps of haggis with bits of putrid scottish pie-lard for garnish.
After 2 years of agonising Guantanamo Bay-style incarceration, and confessing that he was a leading member of Al Qaeda, a sad and damaged Bubbles miraculously escaped from Madonna's Scottish castle hiding inside some bagpipes, and fled north across the frozen Arctic wastes 'til he finally arrived at Sarah & Todd Palin's hunting igloo.
Sarah asked him if he was a member of an endangered species, like Polar Bears and Arctic Foxes,,, but Bubbles was far too clever to say "yes", as he guessed from looking at them that Sarah and Todd might make him run until exhausted and then shoot him from a helicopter for a laugh.
Then they'd probably fashion his lifeless monkey carcass into a footstool to go with Sarah's magnificent bear-sofa.
But even Sarah didn't know that Bubbles was a heavenly angel (albeit in monkey form) sent by God himself to father The Saviour of The World in holy sexual union with her (no time for any of this Catholic "virgin birth" shit in Alaska!).
And Todd didn't know either,,, or it might have been .375 calibre time for the lustful varmint!
Over time Sarah got to know and treasure Bubbles, as they shared roughly the same IQ, knowledge of World Affairs, Political History, Geography and Economics.
Though the Palin's Extreme Pentecostal Creationist belief system was a little too backward and primitive a concept for a [admittedly very clever] chimpanzee even, and Bubbles described believing in it as being "devoid of even the slightest glimmer of intellectual rigour or sanity".
Bubbles felt an unnatural but understandable sexual attraction to the gorgeous third-place runner-up in the Miss Alaska Oil-Spill beauty pageant of 1984 though, and after many months of close communion, Sarah Palin herself came to feel of Bubbles as she would a fondly remembered childhood classmate, from the Wasilla retard's school & 7 colleges she attended on the way to her "journalism" degree, and so she gave him a $95,000 a year + expenses job running the Alaskan Department of Agriculture ("He must know all about animals!.. You betcha!").
But she couldn't feel sexually aroused by Bubbles, yet, as he didn't smell of fish like her beloved childhood sweetheart Todd - and the odor of something wet & scaley was what had always got her womanly juices flowing from that first accidental time with that Northern Pike (huh?) as a barely menstruating teen cheerleader just learning the evil ways of the world, and how it was that cities and entire countries outside Wasilla were under the control of monstrous satanic demons, that had to be flushed-out by the Soldiers of Jesus, vanquished, and turned into attractive pieces of office furniture.
Well eventually, inevitably, true love blossomed between human and animal the way it so often does in those long, dark, lonely Alaskan winter nights - just the way it says it did in The Bible, after Cain slew Abel and was ejected from The Garden of Eden,,, but it wasn't between Alaska's righteous, devout, beautiful and lipstick-clad Pit-Bull Hockey-Mom Governor and the famous celeb/chimp,,,but between him and her treacherous young daughter!
It was as if Bubbles had visited the sin-ridden cesspit that is New York City, and caught the terrible jewish "Woody Allen's Disease" and...[ to be continued...]
Mute Swan / cygnus olor. Straws Bridge, Derbyshire. 03/02/21.
'COPULATION.' (2)
A Mute Swan pair at my local lake captured copulating.
The cob was holding on to her with his feet and had grasped her neck with his beak. She sat low in the water and was completely submerged to begin with. Both birds held their wings partially spread, to assist their balance and meanwhile, the pen was also paddling slowly forwards.
In its pre-copulation display, the male American Avocet preens himself with water, gradually gaining intensity to the point of frenzied splashing just before mating with the female. After mating, the pair intertwines their necks with their bills crossed and runs forward. The pair stays together for a single breeding season.
When I first spotted these two, I thought they were 'fighting' over an egg sac, and found it confusing! Then I later read that the males wrap their nuptial gifts before presenting them to the females! I'd never seen a pair before!
Shawbury Moat - Shropshire
Wikipedia says: "Males of this species offer a nuptial gift to potential female mates. Some Pisaura mirabilis specimens have also been observed to use thanatosis during courtship. After presenting the nuptial gift to the female, she bites on to the gift and the male moves to her epigyne to deposit sperm with his pedipalps. Throughout copulation, the male keeps a leg on the gift so as to be ready if she tries to escape with it or attack him. At this time, the male may feign death – his limbs become straight and he is dragged along with the female while holding on to the gift. When the female stops, the male slowly "resurrects" and continues attempting to mate. Thanatosis in P. mirabilis has been observed to significantly increase the male's odds of successfully copulating from less than 30% to 89%.
In love et très attachés l'un à l'autre.
Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus 1758) = Cimex apterus Linnaeus, 1758, le pyrrhocore aptère ou cherche-midi, gendarme, gendarme suisse, soldat, suisse.
the acquisition of nectar supersedes the privacy for others in natures amazing kingdom.
On the far right is the 'down arrow'- click on that to open 'original' size... click 'open' on original size and then hit F11 on keyboard for full screen effect...
The light was minimal and not very pretty, but I could not resist photographing this nesting pair. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 5/2021.
Species: Aeshna juncea.
This position during copulation, known as the "mating wheel" because the couple forms a closed circle with their jointed bodies, some dragonflies will mate in flight, while others will retire to a nearby perch to consummate their relationship. They rarely settle and can be difficult to approach.
Pair of bright coloured and elongate insects in the family Syrphidae, in cop with detail of genitalia
First she´s calling, afterwards they´re sitting together for a while, preening. Then he moves on.
At the nest near by still is a lot of work to do, renovating.
Same video in normal size on Youtube:
Erst ruft sie, hinterher sitzen sie noch eine Weile beisammen und putzen sich. Dann fliegt er weiter.
Am nahen Horst muss noch ganz schön renoviert werden.
Selbes Video in normaler Grösse auf Youtube:
White checking one of my local White-letter hairstreak locations i noticed there were also many Purple Hairstreaks also flitting about the tree. Suddenly these two came tumbling to the floor and luckily landed in a good spot for a photograph amongst the tall grasses.
Apparently, the need to procreate has taken hold of these tiny syrphids as it seemed coupled pairs were all over the garden today. Andover, NJ
At first I didn't realize that there were two of them. They were intent on their task and ignored the bees that came within grabbing range, as well as the nosy photographer. Jagged Ambush Bugs on Mountain Mint
Plateau des Gras, Bidon, Ardèche, France
Family : Nymphalidae
Subfamily : Nymphalinae
Species : Melitaea cinxia
A widespread and common species throughout most of Europe. In the UK however, there are only a handful of sites in the south of the country where this beautiful butterfly can be found. It is also found in parts of North Africa, the Near East, and Central Asia. Throughout a large part of its range there is just one generation per year but in the warmer regions this can increase to two. Mating is usually a prolonged affair and the female continues to feed while copulation is taking place. They are avid nectar feeders on a variety of flowers. She then lays her eggs in batches of up to 200 on the underside of a leaf on the larval foodplant. The resulting caterpillars overwinter and then start feeding again the following Spring before pupating.
The Glanville Fritillary is found in a wide range of habitats including woodland glades, sub-alpine meadows, field edges, and open grassland. It is a medium sized butterfly with a wingspan of 41-47mm. It is a sun-loving species and like most fritillaries it can be difficult to follow as it flies fast and close to the ground. I have found that they don't usually fly very far and so you can easily find them again. A wide range of larval foodplants are used in Europe, including various Plantago sp., Centaurea sp., and Veronica sp. .
All my insect pics are single, handheld shots of live insects in wild situations.
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I saw one bird leave this tree and decided to wait to see if it would return. An hour or so later I was just walking to my car when it did. (Of course I missed the return flight.) Not wanting to make the same mistake twice I waited, and waited, etc. It paid off. I think they are going to name me the chick's god parent as they certainly seemed to accept me into the family!
Damselfies / Caballitos del diablo
1/320, F/5,6, ISO 100, Flash a -2
En la época del apareamiento los caballitos del diablo hacen gimnasia colgados de los tallos de la vegetación. Los machos agarran a las hembras detrás de la cabeza con sus pinzas del final del abdomen mientras las hembras acercan el final de su abdomen al lugar donde el macho ha transferido su esperma y lo recogen. Luego volarán, generalmente manteniendo a la hembra agarrada, a poner sus huevos en una laguna cercana donde se desarrollarán hasta que llegue el momento de emerger y convertirse en adultos.
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During the mating season, the damselflies do gymnastics hanging from the stems of the vegetation. The males grasp the females behind the head with their claws at the end of the abdomen while the females bring the end of their abdomen closer to where the male has transferred his sperm and collect it. They will then fly off, usually holding onto the female, to lay their eggs in a nearby lagoon where they will develop until it is time to emerge and become adults.
Butterflies making.................... LOVE!
not ..............................................War!
'
Siam Reap, Cambodia
Photography’s new conscience
The Netherlands - Westzaan
Along with the hours-long copulations, the reproductive lifespan of Blue-tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans - Lantaarntje) is only a few weeks. Cooperation from both males and females is required for copulation and females have the ability to reject sperm transfer from unwanted mating attempts. A tandem formation is created by males through the clasping of the female pronotum. © Tom Kisjes
A couple of Soldier Beetles (order: Coleoptera, family: Cantharidae), mating.
UPDATE: they were identified as Rhagonycha nigritarsis by Robert Constantin. Robert said "It is Rhagonycha nigritarsis Brullé, a vicariant species of Rhagonycha fulva, differing by the greater size, the brown tarsi, the more elongate pronotum which can turn to reddish brown as on one specimen here. It's distributed in Greece and its islands."
After copulating, the owls flew a short distance to a different branch and spent time nuzzling and grooming each other. That is the female on the left, larger and slightly more rufous. The smaller, greyer male is on the right.
It was a magical scene to watch through the lens, I took picture after picture with the camera set to quiet shutter mode. As the owls were moving a fair bit, and the depth of field was very narrow, it was tricky to get an eye contact / in focus image.
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Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Incecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Lestidae
Genus: Lestes
Species: dryas
It is also known by the names emerald spreadwing, & robust spreadwing.
Scarce Emerald Damselfly (Lestes dryas) - Canvey Way Ditch, Canvey Way, Canvey Island, Essex
Definitely not the sharpest photo I've ever taken, but I'm happy to have captured this (very) brief and awesome moment... Two White-tailed Kites in love!
White-tailed Kite | Elanus leucurus
Resaca de la Palma State Park.
Brownsville, Texas
Flesh Flies - (Sarcophaga carnaria) Two copulating flesh flies. 2,000 known species in the family Sarcophagidae
Columbia Children's Arboretum, NE Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon (July 4th, 2021). 41a. Suburban arboretum and park.
Pair in copula on a phragmites leaf at the edge of a narrow slough.
Blue Dasher copulation (and that of many other dragonflies) takes the visually striking form illustrated by the photograph. In both sexes the gamete producing organs are near the tip of the abdomen (9th segment) but prior to copulation the male transfers his sperm to a “seminal vesicle” located far forward along the abdomen on the 2nd segment near the junction with the thorax. The process culminates when the male grasps the female’s head with hooks at the tip of his abdomen and bends her abdomen forward to bring its tip in apposition to the seminal vesicle as per the photo. It is at this point that the sperm are transferred from the male’s reproductive tract to the female’s. [If the male encounters sperm from another male already in the female"s reproductive tract during this process, he scrapes it out first before depositing his own.]
Another Blue Dasher in-copula shot--
www.flickr.com/photos/fugl/48181918921/in/photostream/
More odonate photos--