Insects Lure Mates With Gifts

A common practice in human courtship is the giving of gifts to the female in order to win her affection. Well, one species of insect also uses this tactic to win over a mate, with females choosing the one with the biggest present.

The males of the insect species Hylobittacus apicalis go in search of prey to present to their females as a gift, in the hopes of winning her favor and the chance to mate with her. Males who present superior gifts are favored above others, and will be permitted to “do the deed” longer in order to increase the amount of sperm they transfer and improve their chances of impregnating her.

Once males acquire a suitable mating gift, they will release a sex pheromone to attract females. This doesn’t always work out quite so straightforward as I explained above. Often, other males will also seek out the male possessing a gift and try to steal it away from him to use themselves. Even the females will sometimes trick a male into thinking she will mate with her, only to steal the prey away from him and run off to greener pastures.

This kind of reminds me of human females often termed “gold diggers” that like to lure males into their clutches so they can run off with their goods. It seems we’re not as different from these pests as we would like to believe.

Have you witnessed similar behavior in humans looking for a partner?