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Early start this morning I had the privilege of watching a pair of Kingfisher’s copulating at a local nest site , then I managed a quick grab shot of the Female Kingfisher enjoying a small perch for breakfast presented the male.
Blister beetles (I think?) mating. Blister beetles are beetles (Coleoptera) of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. There are approximately 7,500 known species worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some aposematically colored, announcing their toxicity to would-be predators. Cantharidin is a poisonous chemical that causes blistering of the skin. Cantharidin is used medically to remove warts[2] and is collected for this purpose from species of the genera Mylabris and Lytta, especially Lytta vesicatoria, better known as "Spanish fly".
Blister beetles are hypermetamorphic, going through several larval stages, the first of which is typically a mobile triungulin. The larvae are insectivorous, mainly attacking bees, though a few feed on grasshopper eggs; while sometimes considered parasitoids, it appears that in general, the meloid larva consumes the immature host along with its provisions, and can often survive on the provisions alone, thus they are not obligatory parasitoids but rather food parasites that are facultatively parasitoid, or simply predatory. The adults sometimes feed on flowers and leaves of plants of such diverse families like Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Solanaceae.
This picture is reminiscent of one I took several years ago. It got more hits than any other - and told me what many people search for on Flickr :-)
Spring Plumage
Courtship has many rituals,
painting pigments on,
for some.
Like so many things,
we mimic nature.
When time,
to copulate comes.
All dressed up,
and no one around,
so she struts around.
Soon there are many,
then just one.
The breeding system of the bronze-winged jacana leads to intense sperm competition, as female jacanas copulate with multiple males prior to laying their clutch. Before laying the clutch, the female would spend more time with the specific male that would receive the clutch (called the “receiver”). Studies have also shown that receivers gain more copulations than non-receivers. Since the receivers provide all of the parental care, females should, in theory, comply with male demands for copulations to convince them of their paternity, so they will care for the clutch. Receivers have been observed to destroy clutches in which they only had a low share of the paternity. Although females offer copulations to non-receiver males in order to maintain their presence in her harem, these copulations are less important than copulations to assure the receivers of their paternity. The cost of clutches being destroyed by receivers is much higher than losing males from her harem.
Since the males have no individual control over the maximum number of their copulations, the males in polyandrous harems vie for the female’s attention through a call, called a “yell,” to attract her and gain sexual access. It has been shown that male jacanas in larger harems yelled at higher rates during the periods of time when all copulations took place, while males that already received their clutch or were involved in chick care yelled at lower and rates. These yells attracted the female bronze-winged Jacana when she is far from the yeller. A study showed that females seem to use yells to assess male quality, as the males that yelled at the highest rates were able to receive the greatest number of copulations Females may also respond to the yells of males in their territory since they could attract other females who could intrude on their territory
Mute Swan / cygnus olor. Straws Bridge, Derbyshire. 03/02/21.
'COPULATION.' (1)
A Mute Swan pair at my local lake, captured at the start of copulation.
The cob was holding on to her with his feet and had grasped her neck with his beak. She sat low in the water when he mounted her and now, with his weight and downward force on her head, you can see she is completely submerged. Both of them had flexed their wings outwards, (the pen more so than the cob), to maintain their balance. During this, the pen paddled forwards and you can see the water turbulence around them ... I presume this is linked to balancing as well.
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
Taken in ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire. My first visit and lots to see and photograph.
There are two distinct habitat's Woodland and a reasonable sixed meadow, bow were explored.
As you can see during filming it got really windy so I had to stop.
At first this shot of an adult male osprey looks like he is attacking the female. However as you see in the shot below he landed on her back to copulate!
The two copulating ambush bugs at the upper left are feeding on the motionless bee. The lower right bug has his beak extended and is feeding on the head of the bee. The amber tongue of the bee is sticking out in front of the bug's extended beak. This is a sign of suffocation caused by ambush bug neurotoxins. The poison actually liquifies the contents of the prey so it can be slurped up. This is a dirty business and this is nature - predator and prey.
copulation at Spring ( NL )
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Summer is insect season. Here are three dozen pairs of insects making other insects! (Some pairs are mate guarding, not copulating. In some insects, the male stays with the female until she lays her eggs to keep other males away.) Links to individual photos follow:
1. damselfly heart, 2. mating monarchs, 3. mating ambush bugs, 4. tiger bee flies: repeating designs, 5. pair of candy-striped leafhoppers, 6. mating pearl crescent butterflies, 7. mating snipe flies, 8. mating Halloween pennants, 9. Japanese beetles, 10. "dancing" narrow-waisted wasps: bees and wasps of late summer, 11. mating borer moths, 12. Ailanthus webworm moths mating, 13. mating longhorn milkweed beetles, 14. mating orange assassin bugs, 15. mating spicebush swallowtails, 16. mating cabbage whites, 17. mating weevils, 18. mating cicadas, 19. mating white moths, 20. mating leafhoppers, 21. mating yellow-collared scape moths, 22. mating beetles, 23. mating craneflies, 24. mating ladybugs, 25. mating thorn bugs, 26. mating flower flies, 27. green darner dragonflies: ovipositing pair, 28. mating beetles, 29. beetles mating, 30. mating locust borers on goldenrod, 31. mating beetles, 32. mating stilt-legged flies, 33. mating thistle tortoise beetles, 34. mating milkweed bugs on swamp milkweed, 35. multi-tasking, 36. pair of mantises with a second male watching for a chance: Three is a crowd.
All of these shots and some additional ones in following album: www.flickr.com/photos/cherylmolin/albums/72157719833706864 (Some shots couldn't be made to fit in a square format.)
A feast of Marbles Whites today at one of my local patch sites in Northwest Leicestershire.
They were everywhere 100's of them,
I don't have any shots of mating so when I saw a pair I concentrated on them ignoring other shots, returning to them when I had enough shots.
Walking up to the lower sunny banks still surrounded by MW's and even more on the sunny bank where I spotted another mating pair so I had the opportunity to take my time having shots as already in the can. I even had time for a 4K video.
Near The Gulf Of Mexico
Naples, Florida
USA
Click on Image to Enlarge.
Adult white ibis perched at the top of a tree in the middle of alligator bay at the local zoo. This image has been cropped.
Wikipedia -
The American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from North Carolina via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. n flight. Males are larger and have longer bills than females. The breeding range runs along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Outside the breeding period, the range extends further inland in North America and also includes the Caribbean. It is also found along the northwestern South American coastline in Colombia and Venezuela. Populations in central Venezuela overlap and interbreed with the scarlet ibis. The two have been classified by some authorities as a single species.
Their diet consists primarily of small aquatic prey, such as insects and small fishes. Crayfish are its preferred food in most regions, but it can adjust its diet according to the habitat and prey abundance. Its main foraging behavior is probing with its beak at the bottom of shallow water to feel for and capture its prey. It does not see the prey.
During the breeding season, the American white ibis gathers in huge colonies near water. Pairs are predominantly monogamous and both parents care for the young, although males tend to engage in extra-pair copulation with other females to increase their reproductive success. Males have also been found to pirate food from unmated females and juveniles during the breeding season.
So as I’ve posted yesterday, I saw these mantises a couple of days ago hanging out in front of my front door. And yesterday I saw them mating. As I was shooting them, a friend of mine told me the story of mantis’ procreation and decapitation. Intrigued by the story, I waited to see what happen. I did a little research while waiting. I saw a video of African mantises going at it and then female decapitated the male during sex. First she ate his eyes followed by his whole head. It was pretty gross but I wanted to get a front row seat when it happens. 30 minutes went by and they didn’t move a millimeter. Based on the research I did the duration of their copulation could range from few minutes to few hours. I was so hungry. Couldn’t wait for few hours, I reluctantly went for brunch hoping they would still be there when I come back. I came home surprised to see them still in the same spot, same position. 15-30 mins after, the female turned her head toward the male. Their antennas moving rapidly. The male then made a dash immediately away from the female. Seconds later, he flew to the next bush. He just escaped death. I’m sorry to say I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to capture a cruel yet natural cycle of life. I hope that’s not too cruel for me to say.
Note: These mantises were actually upside down, but I rotated the image so you don't have to turn your head upside down. :)
Breeding:
Lions have very high copulation rates. The female may mate approximately every 15 minutes when she is in heat for three days and nights without sleeping, and sometimes with five different males. This often leads to physical exhaustion of males when only a one or two are involved.
The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae. The commonly used term African lion collectively denotes the several subspecies in Africa.
Lions are the only cats that live in groups, which are called prides. Prides are family units that may include up to three males, a dozen or so females, and their young. All of a pride's lionesses are related, and female cubs typically stay with the group as they age. Young males eventually leave and establish their own prides by taking over a group headed by another male.
Lion Prides and Hunting:
Only male lions boast manes, the impressive fringe of long hair that encircles their heads. Males defend the pride's territory, which may include some 100 square miles (259 square kilometers) of grasslands, scrub, or open woodlands. These intimidating animals mark the area with urine, roar menacingly to warn intruders, and chase off animals that encroach on their turf.
Female lions are the pride's primary hunters. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Many of these animals are faster than lions, so teamwork pays off.
After the hunt, the group effort often degenerates to squabbling over the sharing of the kill, with cubs at the bottom of the pecking order. Young lions do not help to hunt until they are about a year old. Lions will hunt alone if the opportunity presents itself, and they also steal kills from hyenas or wild dogs.
Lacerta agilis, a different pair to the previous 2 shots.
Just after copulation, you can see the males hemipenes just before they are retracted back inside him.
This shot was taken from a safe distance with a 400mm lens and cropped, I dont think it's right to cause any interference with these rare reptiles at such an important time just for a photo!!
They stayed around after mating so I'm pretty confident that I didn't disturb them in their "special" moment.
Dorset heathland
Les contes drolatiques d' Honoré de Balzac: bestseller of the 19th century. What makes the charm and interest of these funny tales today, it is above all the 425 drawings created by Gustave Doré that are scattered throughout the work. It is important to remember that Gustave Doré did not engrave the 425 drawings himself (he produced lithographs and etchings representing only a small part of his production).
In many descriptions of sexual intercourse between incubus or succubus with a human being, the intense pleasure this brings is often emphasized. After 1470, it is no longer a question of this, we are "talking about horrible and disgusting stories. In the descriptions of the witches' Sabbath, the authorities realized that this should not be the envy. The supposed witches had to admit under torture all the horrors that came out of the imaginations of these frustrated and sadistic singles. The authors of the "Malleus Maleficarum" are particularly interested in the details of sexual relations with demons. This book, first published around 1486, was the first official manual of persecution of witches. There is an unpleasant description of copulation between a woman and an incubus and the possibility that self-management is responsible for these "relationships". They say that in every case they know, the witch has seen the devil. But according to some, witches have often been seen lying naked on their backs in the woods or fields in a position allowing copulation and orgasm, observing their movements it was obvious that they were copulating with an invisible demonic incubus, if not, in rare cases, a black vapour the size of a man climbing up into the sky at the end of the act. In the medieval atmosphere where sexual relations were tantamount to sin, these scenes could only be understood by the intervention of a demon, the one who was in the spirit of the woman and the witness.
Descriptions of the relationship between a man and a succubus are less frequent. When they are found, they are in the order of incubation stories. The succubus takes the form of a very beautiful woman, but her vagina is frozen and sometimes her lover notices that her legs end in hooves. Again, the oldest stories speak of magnificent and passionate demons that appear to priests and hermits to tempt them, and they often do so. Pope Sylvester II (999-1003) is a Pope who is said to have been secretly a sorcerer and legend has it that he had a relationship with a succubus named Meridiana which was his familiar mind. The icy bodies of succubi must come from the descriptions of the incubus, because most succubi stories speak of being diabolically seductive in the form of a courtesan or prostitute to seduce men. The origin of many of these stories seems to come from men's erotic dreams. Most of these dreams are pleasant, but if you feel guilty and the fear of sin comes into play, the phantasms become dark and the dreamer passes into the world of the nightmare. An incubus is a Lilin-demon in male form who, according to mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon women in order to engage in sexual activity with them. Its female counterpart is a succubus. Salacious tales of incubi and succubi have been told for many centuries in traditional societies. Some traditions hold that repeated sexual activity with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of health, mental state, or even death.The word incubus is derived from Late Latin incubo (a nightmare induced by such a demon); from incub(āre) (to lie upon). One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, ca. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu. It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams. Two other corresponding demons appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons because of mistaken etymology.[5] Written later but described as happening before the Sumerian King List was completed is the mention of the Nephilim: Christian tradition attributes the completion of the Biblical book of Genesis to the time of the 16th century BC.
Incubi were thought to be demons who had sexual relations with women, sometimes producing a child by the woman. Succubi, by contrast, were demons thought to have intercourse with men. Debate about the demons began early in the Christian tradition. St. Augustine touched on the topic in De Civitate Dei ("The City of God"). There were too many alleged attacks by incubi to deny them. He stated, "There is also a very general rumor. Many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experience others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often made wicked assaults upon women."Questions about the reproductive capabilities of the demons continued. Eight hundred years later, Thomas Aquinas lent himself to the ongoing discussion, stating, "Still, if some are occasionally begotten from demons, it is not from the seed of such demons, nor from their assumed bodies, but from the seed of men, taken for the purpose; as when the demon assumes first the form of a woman, and afterwards of a man; just so they take the seed of other things for other generating purposes." This view was also shared by King James and in his dissertation titled Dæmonologie he refutes the possibility for angelic entities to reproduce and instead offered a suggestion that a devil would carry out two methods of impregnating women: the first, to steal the sperm out of a dead man and deliver it into a woman. If a demon could extract the semen quickly, the transportation of the substance could not be instantly transported to a female host, causing it to go cold. This explains his view that Succubae and Incubi were the same demonic entity only to be described differently based on the sexes being conversed with. Being abused in such a way caused women at nunneries to be burned if they were found pregnant. The second method was the idea that a dead body could be possessed by a devil, causing it to rise and have sexual relations with others. This is similar to depictions of revenants or vampires and a spirit taking deceased corpse to cause some mischief. It became generally accepted that incubi and succubi were the same demon, able to switch between male and female forms.A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Even though sperm and egg came from humans originally, the spirits' offspring were often thought of as supernatural.
Some sources indicate that it may be identified by its unnaturally large or cold penis. Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual, others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental.
Incubi are sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a cambion. An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child, as in the legend of Merlin.
According to the Malleus Maleficarum, exorcism is one of the five ways to overcome the attacks of incubi, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the afflicted to another location, and by excommunication of the attacking entity, "which is perhaps the same as exorcism." On the other hand, the Franciscan friar Ludovico Maria Sinistrari stated that incubi "do not obey exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms, show no reverence for holy things, at the approach of which they are not in the least overawed."
There are a number of variations on the incubus theme around the world. The alp of Teutonic or German folklore is one of the better known. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors. "The Trauco", according to the traditional mythology of the Chiloé Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. The Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women. Perhaps another variation of this conception is the "Tintín" in Ecuador, a dwarf who is fond of abundant haired women and seduces them at night by playing the guitar outside their windows; a myth that researchers believe was created during the Colonial period of time to explain pregnancies in women who never left their houses without a chaperone, very likely covering incest or sexual abuse by one of the family's friends. In Hungary, a lidérc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an ignis fatuus or will o' the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.
In Brazil and the rainforests of the Amazon Basin, the Amazon River Dolphin (or boto) is believed to be a combination of siren and incubus that shape-shifts into a very charming and handsome man who seduces young women and takes them into the river. It is said to be responsible for disappearances and unwanted pregnancies, which metamorphoses back into a dolphin during the day. According to legend the boto always wears a hat to disguise the breathing hole at the top of its head.
The Southern African incubus demon is the Tokolosh. Chaste women place their beds upon bricks to deter the rather short fellows from attaining their sleeping forms. They also share the hole in the head detail and water dwelling habits of the Boto.
In Swedish folklore, there is the mara or mare, a spirit or goblin that rides on the chests of humans while they sleep, giving them bad dreams (or "nightmares").Belief in the mare goes back to the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century,but the belief is probably even older. The mare was likely inspired by sleep paralysis.
In Assam, a north-eastern province of India it is mostly known as "pori" (Assamese: পৰী, meaning "angel"). According to the mythology, Pori comes to a man at night in his dreams and attracts towards her. Gradually the victim's health deteriorates and in some cases a tendency to commit suicide generates in him.
In Turkish culture, incubus is known as Karabasan. It is an evil being that descends upon some sleepers at night. These beings are thought to be spirits or jinns. It can be seen or heard in the nightmare and a heavy weight is felt on the chest. Yet people cannot wake up from that state. Some of the causes are sleeping without adequately covering the body (especially women) and eating in bed.
Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. The phenomenon of sleep paralysis is well-established. During the fourth phase of sleep (the deepest stage, also known as REM sleep), motor centers in the brain are inhibited, producing paralysis. The reason for this is ultimately unknown but the most common explanation is that this prevents one from acting out one's dreams. Malfunctions of this process can either result in somnambulism (sleepwalking) or, conversely, sleep paralysis—where one remains partially or wholly paralysed for a short time after waking.
Additional to sleep paralysis is hypnagogia. In a near-dream state, it is common to experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Mostly these are forgotten upon fully waking or soon afterwards, in the same manner as dreams. However, most people remember the phenomenon of hearing music or seeing things in near-sleep states at some point in their lives. Typical examples include a feeling of being crushed or suffocated, electric "tingles" or "vibrations", imagined speech and other noises, the imagined presence of a visible or invisible entity, and sometimes intense emotions of fear or euphoria and orgasmic feelings. These often appear quite real and vivid; especially auditory hallucinations of music which can be quite loud, indistinguishable from music being played in the same room. Humanoid and animal figures, often shadowy or blurry, are often present in hypnagogic hallucinations, more so than other hallucinogenic states. This may be a relic of an ancient instinct to detect predatory animals.
The combination of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucination could easily cause someone to believe that a "demon was holding them down". Nocturnal arousal etc. could be explained away by creatures causing otherwise guilt-producing behavior. Add to this the common phenomena of nocturnal arousal and nocturnal emission, and all the elements required to believe in an incubus are present.
On the other hand, some victims of incubi could well have been the victims of real sexual assault. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative is at the top of the list in such cases and would be kept secret by the intervention of "spirits"