View allAll Photos Tagged copulating
The Black Kites are trying to breed in the canopy tree above my carport again. I made an audiovisual "Living with Breeding Black Kites" about this pair when they successfully fledged three in 2017. Maybe I will be able to make an audiovisual of them this current breeding again? I am quite excited about the prospects actually, It was such a delightful experience living with them breeding around my house in 2017 :-)
This copulation happened in their 2017 perch tree in a neighbour's backyard in full view from my back porch (at the end of 600mm zoom lens) Although no way can I see into the nest, the female is confined to the nest tree area and I am pretty sure she is sitting on egg/s only leaving the nest to call the male in. This is how he comes in to her. No inhibitions, just part of their breeding ecology ... sigh!
PS: These are urban Black Kites. They are pretty unflappable. In 2017 the female even stayed on the nest through the annual Territory Day fireworks free for all and the construction of a bus shelter below them! ... and their nest is over the footpath and street.
My house is my hide and I am personally very careful not to disturb them.
PPS: I have to wonder if they are breeding at this time of year because we have just had good falls of rain after prolonged drought?
These two were caught in the Henderson Wetlands near Vegas - which is a GREAT place to go birding. Hope everyone is doing well!
A pair of southern copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix) breed after a heavy morning thunderstorm in eastern Texas.
No longer copulating, but still dancing. Or this might be a different pair that hadn't yet established a connection, I'm not sure--I couldn't see them constantly.
Last night it rain causing the worm to come out of the ground. Kathy found these two worms copulating out near the chicken coop.
Getting ready to go to the museum.
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.
Male: 10-12mm Female 5-6mm
Photos: Jean
This is the male of the wingless female posted.
Photos Jean
Pan copulating with a Goat (resin, after an original found in Pompeii) - Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Looks like a successful mating. See previous images of male landing on partner. See large image to appreciate their expressions. (4 of 4)
The amazing thing is that I witnessed it four times in three days (in two different cities). No wonder there are so many of the things...
Well, believe it or not, I tried to limit these a bit. This is my set from Lyon, France. (go on, view the slideshow... it'll be fun!). It's a bit scattered again, but hopefully you'll enjoy!
I have been watching butterflies for decades and have never seen such an aggressive, persistent intrusion to a copulating pair of butterflies. These Small Blue butterflies were copulating quite happily when another male arrived and started to buzz them. This didn't seem to have the desired effect of separating them so he landed on the flower next to them and forced himself underneath their joined abdomens. That was the exact moment I photographed here. Try as he might, the mating pair remained connected, so after several minutes the intruder seemed to get the message and flew away.
When butterflies (and many other creatures) mate they deposit a "package" of sperms in a spermatophore. This means that once a buuterfly has mated, any sperms from subsequent matings are unlikely to get through to fertilise any eggs. Which makes this intrusive behaviour even more unusual. Some male insects, for example Dragonflies and Damselflies, have special hooks on their "intromittent organ" (known as an aedeagus) which can remove the spermatophore from earlier matings. This explains why male Dragonflies keep hold of the female after mating until she has laid all of her eggs, as any later matings would remove all his good work.