10 Weird and Wacky Mating Facts in the Animal Kingdom

10+Weird+and+Wacky+Mating+Facts+in+the+Animal+Kingdom

What’s the weirdest date you have ever been on?  If you think that’s weird, check out these wild dates!   

In a Clown Fish colony  the largest female mates with the largest male.   If the female dies, the male becomes female and becomes the new breeding female in the colony.

In the Anglerfish population, the female has the big, sharp teeth and the glow in the dark antenna.   The male’s body is much smaller and looks different from the females. The glow in the dark antenna  helps the male to find females. When he finds his mate the male bites her and latches on her and they fuse together which connects their circulatory systems.  He has to depend on her for his survival; the female in turn can use his sperm when she is ready to reproduce. She can have more than one male attached to her at the same time.

Snails are hermaphrodites they have both male and female reproductive parts. When Snails mate  they shoot each other in the neck with a “ love dart.” That provides the sperm to fertilize each others eggs.  Doing this is dangerous it can lead to death.

Female black widow spiders are twice as large as the male.  The female spider makes a spider web before they mate. The male must shake and vibrate his bottom on the web so the female does not mistake him for dinner…but sometimes she will confuse the male for prey and eat him.

The male puffer fish makes a nest in the sand to attract females. The patterns are very beautiful and detailed.  How they form the nest is they swim around in a circle and they scrape the sand with their fins into a nest for their eggs. The process  takes about seven to nine days and they cannot stop because the movement of water will move the sand. They decorate them with shell fragments and sediment.  The females lay her eggs in the center of the nest.

BBC Earth video on Pufferfish Love Circles

Umbratica male spiders have glowing antenna that attract the females who also have glowing parts on their head.  The males lure the females by striking poses that display the glowing patches. Both the male and the female rely on these signals  to tell if they are in mating mood.

The male seahorse is the one that  carries the eggs. The female hovers over his pouch on the front of his body and drops them in, where the male fertilizes the eggs then carries them till they hatch. The male and the female do a dance and they link tails. The dance is called the courtship dance. The males lower their heads just like a horse and prance around the tank.

Check out this femme fatale (a woman who attracts someone and then kills them).  Once the “ she- mantis” and her  “he- mantis” have coupled she bites his head off.   Scientists think she does this to extend their time of mating.   It increases the chances of successful breeding. If you are a he-mantis, watch out!

Prairie Voles are both faithful and affectionate.   When they are stressed they hug and kiss each other. They spend 50 to 60 percent of their time together, if not more.  If any other males or females approach, the couple will chase them away. 

Happy Valentine’s Day, love bugs!!