Posted on 10/10/2005 11:41:06 AM PDT by NRA1995
Awesome Animals
More Weird Mating Habits: The longest-lasting copulation, according to University of Arizona biologist John Alcock (interviewed for an August Knight Ridder story), is that of the lowly "stick insect" (of the phasmida family), which goes on for several months at a time, even though, he said, it is "not clear this is welcome to the female." The male attaches himself to the female's back, which allows her to continue with her daily routine during the mating, while also discouraging competitor males. According to other biologists, some ticks spend up to eight hours on what resembles foreplay, and butterflies, snakes and houseflies can also go on for hours. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch-Knight Ridder Newspapers, 8-28-05]
(Excerpt) Read more at newsoftheweird.com ...
There must be hundreds of stick bugs in our backyard, and I had no idea this is what they've been doing.
I thought this had something to do with Clinton.
I think that Sting is feeling a bit marginalized at this point.
"not clear this is welcome to the female."
Typical male...Well, I hope the happy ending to this is that he falls off afterwards and she gets to eat him! LOL
MM
appropriate name - stick bug. Sounds more like stuck bug.
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