Oh then there are the egg layers were the males are required to carry the offspring in there mouth or produce a substance that the babies eat or build the nest and sit on it (in the case of birds) or 100 of other ways where the female is irrelevant after producing eggs
Why do only females select males?
- Thread starter aaqucnaona
- Start date
The Emperor Penguin is interesting in that it is another species where the male contributes greatly to the raising of the young.
Mate selection seems to be by mutual agreement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Penguin
Mate selection seems to be by mutual agreement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Penguin
Asguard:
My comments were not restricted to humans.
That this is not a universal rule for all species was discussed prior to your post. I suggest you read the thread.
My comments were not restricted to humans.
That this is not a universal rule for all species was discussed prior to your post. I suggest you read the thread.
I like how the black widow spider does it...female is bigger, stronger and eats him afterwards.
She doesn't have to fear rape..doesn't have to engage in a hundred safety behaviours...doesn't have to wonder if her sleeveless shirt will attract a rapist before reflecting that rapists don't even look, primarily, for visual attractiveness.
And then she doesn't have to put up with his emotional problems afterwards, either. Hehee.
She doesn't have to fear rape..doesn't have to engage in a hundred safety behaviours...doesn't have to wonder if her sleeveless shirt will attract a rapist before reflecting that rapists don't even look, primarily, for visual attractiveness.
And then she doesn't have to put up with his emotional problems afterwards, either. Hehee.
I wonder if the male just lies there, or does he put up a fight.
Is it built in to their genome to accept this brutality?
He's hardly worth eating. Surely not enough for a meal on the little critter. Does she take more than one mate to get a decent feed?A picture is worth a thousand words, 'tis often said....
Myth: When black widow spiders mate, the female always kills and eats the male.
Fact: This myth (which is not totally false, but very far from true) is believed even by scientists, and can be found in many ecology textbooks! It's depressing; the authors are obviously copying each other and have never actually watched black widows mate in the field.
To understand the facts about black widow mating, you must first understand that there are many different species worldwide in the black-widow group (the genus Latrodectus), and three different black widow species in the United States alone, two in the east and one in the west. These species do not all behave alike. Moreover, in the past most observations of mating took place in laboratory cages, where males could not escape.
The only known Latrodectus species in which mate cannibalism in nature is the rule, not the exception, are in the Southern Hemisphere. Of U.S. species, mate cannibalism occurs sometimes in Latrodectus mactans, the eastern (southern) black widow, but most males survive to mate another day. In the other two black species, including the western black widow L. hesperus (only species west of Kansas), mate cannibalism has never been observed in the wild!
http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/myths/blackwidow.html
Fact: This myth (which is not totally false, but very far from true) is believed even by scientists, and can be found in many ecology textbooks! It's depressing; the authors are obviously copying each other and have never actually watched black widows mate in the field.
To understand the facts about black widow mating, you must first understand that there are many different species worldwide in the black-widow group (the genus Latrodectus), and three different black widow species in the United States alone, two in the east and one in the west. These species do not all behave alike. Moreover, in the past most observations of mating took place in laboratory cages, where males could not escape.
The only known Latrodectus species in which mate cannibalism in nature is the rule, not the exception, are in the Southern Hemisphere. Of U.S. species, mate cannibalism occurs sometimes in Latrodectus mactans, the eastern (southern) black widow, but most males survive to mate another day. In the other two black species, including the western black widow L. hesperus (only species west of Kansas), mate cannibalism has never been observed in the wild!
http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/myths/blackwidow.html
Click on image to view video of mating ritual for this species.
"Click on image to view video of mating ritual for this species." No thanks - Male rights campaigner!
Actually its facinating, sort of reminds me of that fish where the male actually becomes part of the female when they mate
of course theres the other side for VI, sea lice mating rituals
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheMostExtreme
born live but without a birth cannel the young eat there way out of mum, think your kids are paracytes now?
of course theres the other side for VI, sea lice mating rituals
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheMostExtreme
born live but without a birth cannel the young eat there way out of mum, think your kids are paracytes now?
Does she take more than one mate to get a decent feed?
I think the male provides a large amount of nutrition to put in the eggs. What I wonder is, does the male become more nutritious [by some biochemical processes] once he is ready to mate?
Click on image to view video of mating ritual for this species.
How do you hyperlink an image?
When did I write about black widows? :bugeye:
Anyway, I have a question [post #33].
Ps. This also applies to mantises, right?
Have you noticed that in the bug world, females seem to dominate the males in one way or another. By comparison human females are looking real good.
*Ahem*
Just think, had evolution gone another way, we could have all ended up hermaphrodites...like snails:
http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-hermaphrodite-snails-have-twice-fun.html
(Caution: Graphic image of shelled molluscs snailing each other.)
Or like some marine flatworms.
The official term for their mating ritual is "penis fencing," and...I have never seen a prettier-looking sex act...not even from p0rnstars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0c3NyupRuY&feature=related
Just think, had evolution gone another way, we could have all ended up hermaphrodites...like snails:
http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-hermaphrodite-snails-have-twice-fun.html
(Caution: Graphic image of shelled molluscs snailing each other.)
Or like some marine flatworms.
The official term for their mating ritual is "penis fencing," and...I have never seen a prettier-looking sex act...not even from p0rnstars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0c3NyupRuY&feature=related
Last edited:
Nevertheless, it is observed in some cases, quite common in the Australian Redback, and it deserves an explanation.
Its worth noting that the male appeares to sacrifice himslef to the female by somersaulting into her jaws.
Contribution to the future egg is a common proposed theory, but I am not sure. Consider the below paper. For some reason, I cant copy and paste the text, so you will have to read it to see the finding in the authors words.
The author found that the consumption of a single male does not increase egg number or mass, after all the male is only in mass, a fraction the size of a female or her eggs.
He did find however, that males that were eaten, copulated far longer than a male that wasnt eaten. This is beacuse copulation continued during consumption and that this continued copulation is the payoff. In addition females were less likely to copulate with another male afterwards (Iam not sure why this is, perhaps she isnt hungry), a further payoff to the eaten male. Weigh this against what the author discusses in the concluding paparagraphs, in that the males have a low chance of surviving in the wild while trying to find another female, therefore it is not actually sacrifing much in quantitative terms.
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/1009/2/Andrade96.pdf
Last edited:
Setting aside the behavioural costs, the production of eggs is still energetically more expensive than sperm. But who does the choosing in the sea horse community?