View allAll Photos Tagged copulating
When ready to copulate, the need to do so for a toad is so overwhelming, that it will climb anything, moving or not. In this case it mates with a fire salamander.
On our first evening in the Okavango Delta, we witnessed the following seduction attempt by an assertive lioness.
"When the female is in season, she demonstrates her readiness by head rubbing and rolling onto her back. When she is ready, she will present her hindquarters to the male. The act of copulation is extremely quick, lasting less than a minute in most cases. During the actual act, the male lion mounts the female lion and grasps her neck with his powerful jaws. The act is repeated as often as physically possible over the approximately four days that the female continues to be in heat. This can amount to hundreds of individual acts of copulation. Despite all the repetition, mating is often unsuccessful, even though lions are able to induce ovulation rather than relying on an estrous cycle. The reasons for this lack of success are not well known."
"The gestation period lasts about three and a half months, and litters range from two to six cubs. Cubs are utterly helpless at birth, and take a full two years to reach maturity. As a result, female lions only give birth about every two to three years. Lionesses within a pride often synchronize their ovulation in order to gestate and give birth around the same time. The sad fact is that only about 1 in 4 cubs will survive to adulthood."
(Source: www.actforlibraries.org/mating-habits-of-african-lions/)
I found this lovely couple of longhorn beetles on Sunday, copulating in the most romantic place in the world, an enormous flower-bed, the umbel of a wild carrot (Daucus carota). I don't think they knew that seeds of this plant have long been used as a form of birth control (according to wikipedia).
I photographed them with my MP-E lens at 1:1, because they were quite big (photo is uncropped): almost 2cm long, without the antennae. They were a difficult subject, dark bodies on white flowers, but no detail was lost, thanks to the dynamic range of the 5D's sensor :)
When I showed this image to my son, I was telling him that they play with each other. They do, right?
We spent a lovely afternoon at my parent's place today, the kids and me. They live in the countryside, and have a little pond right next to their house. This was shot right there, while the kids were marveling at the cows.
The female was resting on the bank, when the male appeared. She left the bank and swam towards the male, who was bobbing his head up and down. He swam beside her, and she stopped, and he mounted by climbing on behind. He grabbed the feathers at the back of her head, and at one point she was entirely submerged. After probably 20 seconds, it was done, and he swam away, and she followed him behind a patch of reeds.
Family: Lycaenidae
Blues in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. This pair performed the dance in the Botanic Gardens, circling a thistle flower whilst interlocked.
Donner Party Camp Trail, Highway 89 / Nevada County, California
Credit has to be given to Leslie Flint as she told me 2 years ago that she had seen and photographed this species along the 1/3 mile trail. There are 2 locations along this trail that have a very small stream that bisects the trail. I found these damsels at the second small stream which is just south of the Donner Party campsite near a large dead tree and I was surprised at how small these damsels are and the difference in flight which is short and rapid. I don't believe I've ever been able to capture a mating pair of damselflies or even dragonflies on my first sighting until now.
According to Rutowski and Schaefer in their research report "Courtship Behavior of the Gulf Fritillary" published in the Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society in 1984, "Gulf Fritillary copulation occurs with the adults facing opposite directions and their abdomens touching. The male will grasp the female's abdomen with a pincer like organ called a clasper, and then insert his aedeagus (analog of a penis) into the female's reproductive tract to gradually pass his sperm (or spermatophore) to her."
Addition not only to the lifelist, but to the copulation list! 3x in the 20 min or so that we watched. For much of the time the female was perched and would call to the male as he returned from hunting sorties with a treat for her. Sometimes after he fed her they would mate.
Geotagged, as this location has been widely publicized, and the birds (and Mississippi Kites in general) don't seem to mind their admirers -- in fact, they chose to nest right next to the visitor center parking lot.
According to Rutowski and Schaefer in their research report "Courtship Behavior of the Gulf Fritillary" published in the Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society in 1984, "Gulf Fritillary copulation occurs with the adults facing opposite directions and their abdomens touching. The male will grasp the female's abdomen with a pincer like organ called a clasper, and then insert his aedeagus (analog of a penis) into the female's reproductive tract to gradually pass his sperm (or spermatophore) to her."
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.
Came across this pair of ladybugs and managed to observed the entire "porno" scene lol~
The male at the back was constantly humping the female from time to time, and the process took quite some time.
The female is capable of moving even when the male is on top of her.
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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.
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A rare event to wittness in the world of snake breeding.A male Anerythristic (black and white albino) Corn snake pairing with a female Corn snake. I was able to record the moment due to the fact that both snakes have been looked after by myself since they were hatchlings and they are ok with me being around at times like this.