mating

In most cases the male does not transfer spermatozoa directly to the female but rather initiates courtship rituals in which the female is induced to accept the gelatinous sperm capsule (spermatophore). During mating the sperm are transferred to a sac (spermatheca)…

The sexes occur separately in acarids; i.e., there are both males and females. Most species lay eggs (oviparity), but in some parasitic ones the eggs hatch within the female, and the young are born alive. Many species also can reproduce by…

Mating in scorpions is preceded by a complicated and characteristic courtship initiated by the male. He first faces and grasps the female, using his pincers (pedipalps). Then the pair, directed by the male, moves sideways and backward in a dancelike motion called promenade à deux.…

In most groups, after a male has successfully approached a female and mounted her, he inserts his left pedipalp into the left opening of her genital structure and the right pedipalp into the right opening. In some primitive spiders (e.g., haplogynes, mygalomorphs) and a…

…elaborate of these experiments, 1,600 sexually receptive females were released around the periphery of a large enclosed area in the middle of which had been placed a cage containing one or more chirping males. Precise data concerning the frequency with which the females moved toward the cage were obtained by…

In some species mating is preceded by elaborate courtship by the male. In two families the male hovers in front of the female while displaying his brightly colored wings, abdomen, or legs, sometimes in combination. To mate, damselflies join together in the “wheel” position and commonly fly in…

Dragonflies, like damselflies, exhibit a mating posture unique to the Odonata. The male and female contort themselves into the “wheel” position before sperm is transferred. Before and after mating, dragonflies often fly in tandem, with the male towing the female in flight using claspers at the tip of his abdomen…

…and finds the female for mating. For the male yellow fever mosquito, the most effective (i.e., apparently best heard) frequency has been found to be 384 hertz, or cycles per second, which is in the middle of the frequency range of the hum of females of this species. The antennae…

To increase mating opportunities, males counterevolved a strategy of vibrational signaling that attracts both females and predators. During copulation the female floats on the water’s surface with the male mounted on her back; this leaves the female more susceptible to predators than the male. The males’ strategy…

Courtship is relatively simple among the social equids. The true ass is apparently exceptional. The partners are strangers when the first approaches are made and the female requires violent subjugation by the male, which bites, kicks, and chases her before she will stand for…

This is necessary if mating with closely related and coexisting species is to be avoided. Swans and geese cement the pair bond by a “triumph ceremony,” with mutual head waving and calling, typically when the male has driven off an intruder. Male sheldgeese have a puffing, strutting display. Their…

…predators, but ewes prefer to mate with dominant rams. Young rams cannot compete until their horns have reached full curl at seven or eight years of age. Bighorns can live 20 years or more, but life expectancy may be only six or seven years in populations that are reproducing rapidly.

…and females, old and young, mate and use a variety of sexual behaviours to promote social bonding. Female bonobos are sexually active for more of the time than their chimpanzee counterparts; they bear offspring at roughly five-year intervals and resume copulating with males within a year of giving birth. Bonobos…

Whether the mating system is territorial or based on a male dominance hierarchy may be linked to phylogeny. The members of the subfamilies Caprinae and Bovinae, which appear to have separated from the main bovid line very early, are virtually all nonterritorial. For the rest, the Antilopinae…

Sexual behaviour starts early in cetaceans. Young dolphins engage in exploratory sexual behaviour involving their mothers and other members of the school. Self-stimulation is common in both sexes. Male cetaceans perhaps use their penises as a manipulation organ in much the same way that…

…however, initiate most of the mating.

Both sexes are polygamous and breed throughout the year, but females are usually restricted to the one or two adult males of their pride. In captivity lions often breed every year, but in the wild they usually breed no more than once in two years. Females are receptive to mating…

…to prevent other males from mating. There is also a dominant female that produces more litters than other females. Meerkats are unusual among carnivores in that the pups are raised with the assistance of adults other than the parents. In the wild, a female bears one or occasionally two litters…

Moose mate in September so that the calves may be born in June to take advantage of spring vegetation. The antlers are shed of the blood-engorged skin called velvet in late August, and the bulls are in rut by the first week of September. Rutting bulls…

Most mating takes place in the context of consortships that last 3 to 10 days and are correlated with ovulation. Subadult males often forcibly copulate with females at times other than during ovulation.

Courtship and mating take place in the water from late winter through spring; timing varies with latitude, mating occurring earlier in the more northern parts of the range and later in the more southerly regions. Mating is a strenuous affair; in one recorded session the male was…

…are both solitary except for breeding associations lasting one to six days. Pumas are usually silent, but during this time they emit long, frightening screams intermittently for several hours. Pumas breed throughout the year, with a summer peak in births at higher latitudes. The interval between births is about two…

…readiness of a tigress to mate is announced through vocalization and scent production. There is no fixed breeding season, though the preponderance of mating appears to occur in winter. The striped cubs are born after a gestation period of more than three months. The normal litter size is two to…

Two types of mating systems are observed in zebras. Like the horse, the mountain and the plains zebras live in small family groups consisting of a stallion and several mares with their foals. The females that form the harem are unrelated. The harem remains intact even when the…