View allAll Photos Tagged copulating
Copulating ladybirds on a runner bean plant in a city garden. Ladybird larvae are a major predator of the blackfly which attack runner beans so helping the gardener to get a better crop.
White-tailed male and Black-tailed female (Orthetrum albistylum, Orthetrum cancellatum). France; Moulismes 8/7/13
St. Louis
A few articles on cliff swallow behavior, particularly this extra pair copulation:
www.10000birds.com/why-do-cliff-swallows-flutter-their-wi...
thebirdersreport.com/wild-birds/bird-sightings/cliff-swal...
Before they copulate, the male and the female spend a considerable amount of time in physical contact with one another. This is accomplished by the male clasping the female's thorax with terminal appendages at the end of his abdomen. These structures fit each other like a lock and key and are thought to aid in species recognition. Each species have slightly different structures on the male’s abdomen and the female’s thorax.
Courtship in damselflies involve, high frequency wing beats directed towards the female and her choice of a partner may be based on this display (not all species have a courtship). However, research has also found that the females prefer hot males (no pun intended!). A hotter (warmer) male is likely to come from a territory which is warmer and thus allow a better chance for her offspring to survive.
The female shows her acceptance of the male by looping her abdomen forwards and upwards to the male genitalia to accept his sperm.
Once this has happened, they may remain in this position for a while. It is thought that by prolonging the mating session by he ensures the ejection of a competitor’s sperm reserves from the female’s spermatheca and gives his own sperm a better chance at fertilization.
Once this has been accomplished, the male lets go of the female and flies away. The female though rests a while on nearby plants until she is ready to fly herself.
She finally flies away, and finds herself a pond or other stagnant water body, where she will lay her eggs.
A male copulating, when she was collecting pollen. One of few bee species that still mates after the female started provisioning the nest cells. The females use plant hairs for there nest, that's why they're named Wool Carder Bee.
Crane Swan Copulation by me
Folded with 25cm x 25cm Alu - Bastelfoille
This is actually Satoshi Kamiya's Splash but the finished model is then folded into a crane, with this unexpected result
Monarch, Danaus plexippus, common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, mating, mate, copulate, Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park; Virginia, VA; invertebrates; Insect; butterfly; milkweed butterfly, most readily recognized butterfly, innate navigation ability, migrate south for winter, long distance migrator, plants; weed; milkweed, Asclepiadaceae; native perennial, weedy, invasive, favorite of insects, host plant to monarch butterfly, insects needed for cross-pollination, Butterfly flower, Silkweed, Silky Swallow-wort, Virginia Silkweed, animals; wildlife {undomesticated animals};