View allAll Photos Tagged copulating
Mixed media, acrylic, watercolour, ink,red glitter and pencil on paper. 30 X 19 cm. by J wonderlust - 2009
From 'Endangered Butterflies of Moscow Oblast' series for Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.
Science consultant A.V.Sviridov.
Male (left) and female (right) before copulation.
Back in 2015, I had the opportunity to witness and photograph a pair of Eastern New Zealand falcons (found in the South Island of New Zealand)(Kārearea) mating at Wingspan - New Zealand's National Bird of Prey Centre.
This pair (Male - 'Wink' and Female - 'Ali') was one of Wingspan's breeding pairs.
Observing and studying this behaviour in captivity was invaluable to me as a wildlife photographer as it gave me an in-depth understanding of what to listen out for and look out for when trying to spot this behaviour out in the wild.
A few years later, I was able to use this knowledge to witness and photograph the mating of a pair of wild North Island bush falcons.
To see the series that shows a frame by frame sequence of the pair mating, visit the following link: www.behance.net/gallery/80763861/Mating-New-Zealand-Falcon-(Karearea)
Tree Swallows (male-female pair), Mountain Loop Highway (Big Four), Snohomish County, Washington, United States, June 5, 2024. Courtship/copulation.
Wallace's Flying Frogs fucking. Found in the rainforest's of Sabah, Malaysia on the island of Borneo.... tried not to ruin the mood ;)
Dangerous liaison 2.
After successfully mating, the male Labyrinth spider (on the right) is holding the female down and manoeuvring himself into a position from which to make his escape.
This unfolded in front of me as I was sitting on my back patio drinking a glass of lemonade. So, I just grabbed my camera and began shooting. It only lasted a few seconds ... even though they coupled for at least six times ... so I didn't have a chance to change the ISO setting which had been set to 800 because I had been trying earlier to get some shots of them flying.
I hope this doesn't offend anyone. That is certainly not my intention ... but, rather, just to document the behavior of these interesting birds.
You might have noticed that he is grasping a bunch of her head feathers in his beak. As far as I can gather, he is doing that to help with his balance.
Pair copulating by a small pond at the side of the road. Taken from my car window with beanbag support
A pair of soldier beetles copulating on a field scabious in the masts field at Prestbury Hill nature reserve in Gloucestershire.
I watched his copulating parents earlier in the year and am now pleased to have this one and his (her) sibling visiting the pine tree that towers above my bird feeders. Like so many youngsters they are incredibly noisy. But being young, they are still somewhat tolerant of me and my camera.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Incecta
Order: Odonata
Family: Coenagrionidae
Genus: Ischnura
Species: elegans
Blue Tailed Damselflies in copulation ( Ischnura elegans) - Achurch Woods, Lilford, Northamptonshire
Male Merlin on my neighbor's roof.
I have been watching a Merlin couple for 2 weeks now in my neighborhood. It seems that they will be nesting here but they have not nested yet because the female has been flying around and they still are copulating. This is my first opportunity for a decent shot,
A Merlin pair in the immediate neighborhood in 2013 produced 4 youngsters. They were very fun to watch but took a horrendous toll in "prey" birds in our neighborhood. I will likely have to take down my feeders, like I did in 2013.
In many places when the flowers start flowering, female TIPHIIDAE/THYNNIDAE wasps climb onto small shrubs or wander over open ground, waiting for a male to come and copulate. During copulation, the males take the females to flowers where they collect nectar and pass it to the female. She curls her body around the drop of nectar and drinks while the male collects more nectar on many different flowers.
Females usually live on the ground or in the leaves of trees looking for and devouring small insects.
Photos: Jean
In Greek mythology, Manto (Ancient Greek: Μαντώ) was the daughter of the prophet Tiresias and mother of Mopsus. Tiresias was a Theban oracle who, according to tradition, was changed into a woman after striking a pair of copulating snakes with a rod, and was thereafter a priestess of Hera.
During the War of the Epigoni, a later myth relates, Manto was brought to Delphi as a war prize. Apollo made her his priestess and sent her to Colophon to found an oracle devoted to him. She had a son named Mopsus by Apollo, although by some accounts, the father of Mopsus is Rhacius, whom Manto later married. According to the Bibliotheca, she had two children by Alcmaeon, Amphilochus and Tisiphone. In Roman myth, Manto went to Italy and gave birth to Ocnus (father: Tiberinus, the genius of the river Tiber). Ocnus founded Mantua and named it after his mother. It was said that Manto's abilities in prophecy were much greater than her father's.
Manto also appears in the myth of Niobe, the boastful queen of Thebes who degraded Leto. Manto warns her not to anger the gods and suggests she ask for Leto's forgiveness. Niobe refuses and continues to insult Leto, and consequently is punished by Apollo and Artemis.
Lampus, who tried to violate Manto on her couch, was killed by Apollo for this act.
She is one of the fortune-tellers and diviners whom Dante sees in the fourth pit of the eighth circle of the Inferno (Wikipedia).
Mating Chalkhill Blue Butterflies (Polyommatus coridon). Female left, male right. A small, widespread butterfly that occasionally visits gardens. Females similar to Brown Argus, which lack blue dusting near body, and to female Adonis Blue, which have dark veins extending into white fringe on wing edges. The male Chalk Hill Blue is paler and, apart from the Large Blue, larger than other blue butterflies seen in Britain and Ireland. At some sites many hundreds may be seen in August, flying just above the vegetation, searching for females. Large numbers of males may also congregate on animal dung and other sources of moisture and minerals. Females are much less conspicuous, being duller in colour, more secretive in their habits, and spending less time than the males in flight. The butterfly is confined to calcareous grassland in southern England and has declined in some areas during recent decades.
Photo by Nick Dobbs, Badbury Rings, Dorset 03-08-2023
Not sure of the species of this insect. This pair were spending a long time staring at each other, and occasionally moving their front legs. The antenna of the one on the left was attached to its partner.
Family: Colletidae
Despite the passenger, this female can fly with male attached. I don't know how long he remains attached, but it is likely he wants to prevent competitors fertilising 'his' female.
This species was identified as a distinct species as recently as 1993, and has bee known in the UK since 2001. Since then it has spread from a few coastal areas to become rather widespread.
Short-winged Conehead (Conocephalus dorsalis), female with spermatophylax.
Woodwalton Fen National Nature Reserve, Ramsey Heights, Cambridgeshire. Sunday 13th August 2017.
Giant Wood Spider females are exponentially larger than the males. This sexual dimorphism and the female's bad temper makes the male vulnerable to being eaten by her during courtship or mating.
The tiny males will have to perform energy intensive courtship rituals to woo the female before copulation. Failing to woo her before approaching will result in a tragic end for the male. As a workaround to this time and energy intensive activity and to avoid being eaten alive, the males have turned highly opportunistic.
A female is incapable of attacking while she is moulting and hesitant to attack while she is feeding.
The males know this and use such situations to their highest advantage.
I was lucky to witness this drama last evening.
After exploring the jungle the whole day for bugs, frogs and snakes we were heading back to our vehicle when my friend pointed to a Spider web and excitedly announced - Here is a spider feeding on another Spider!!
I was excited and rushed to the spot, only to realize It was a female Spider moulting!! She was half way through. I could see a male approx 15 cm away from her. I quickly set up the tripod and was watching the beautiful scene. After 10 mins the female was completely out of her old skin and was dangling by a thin line of silk, lifeless.
This is when the male made his move. He approached her feverishly, inspecting the shed exoskeleton first and then rushing towards the helpless female. He walked all over her inspecting here and there. Made several trips away from her only to return in a few seconds.
When he was right in front of her eyes she would desperately try to flare up and grab him.But she was too weak and fragile.
After approx 30 mins I could see the female regain some strength and flex her legs. She was still torpid when the male approached her and actually copulated for the first time. He would perform these short bouts of copulation and move away from her only to be back in the next minute.
After few such copulatory bouts the female woke up from her stupor, regained control over her legs, approached the exoskeleton and carefully started to dislodge it from the web.
The male was now safely away from her, alive and proud. :-)
While we watched all this drama, the wind was playing havoc. All of us were struggling to photograph the unbelievable sight. After many blurry shots and a few decent ones we called it a day. Happy and excited about what we just saw.
Copulating Harris's Hawks.
Tucson, AZ.
5-11-16.
Photo by: Ned Harris
Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife