Joanna Carver, reporter
It may be considered poor form in the human dating game, but cannibalistic sex is common practice among hump-winged grigs. This video shows a female insect feasting on her partner's hind wings then drinking the blood from his wound, apparently with little interest in procreation. The male isn't completely passive though: he uses a hook on his abdomen to catch the female, linking their genitals together.
The wing material doesn't grow back, so each time a male mates, his hind wings get shorter. Females prefer males with undamaged wings, which makes wingless male grigs less desirable. But according to Kevin Judge, an insect expert from George MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, females will sometimes move onto other body parts when there isn't much wing to tuck into. "I've seen males with missing hind legs that have apparently been chewed off by females," says Judge.
When hungry, however, female grigs are less picky about their choice of mate. In a recent study, Judge and his colleagues found that when starved, they would breed with males of other grig species. This behaviour is more likely to occur at the end of the breeding season. "All their own males are tapped out and they just go with what's available," says Judge.
Interspecies romance isn't unique to grigs: many animals also branch out from their own type. To find out more about these risky sexual practices, check out our feature, "Dangerous liaisons: Fatal animal attractions".
If you enjoyed this post, watch a video reveal details of nematode mating or see how water striders pin down females for sex.
Cannibal insect sex caught on video
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Cannibal insect sex caught on video
