Bush cricket testicle size clue to promiscuous mating

BBC ^ | 9 November 2010 | Jason Palmer

[balls]

Scientists have found a bushcricket species with testicles that account for up to 14% of its body weight.

It is the animal with the biggest testicles in relation to its body weight, they write in Biology Letters.

In a study of their mating strategies, the team found they release only small amounts of sperm at each mating.

That suggests the big testes are for mating with many females, not producing competitive volumes of sperm for each encounter.

Significant research across the animal kingdom has shown that male testicle size is correlated to the degree of promiscuity within a given species.

The more partners a female has, the larger the male's testicles are likely to be.

Larger testicles produce more sperm, and a long-standing assumption has been that a kind of numbers game is played out within the female to fertilise her eggs.

The male that provides a higher amount of sperm in that scenario has a higher likelihood of fathering offspring.

Many experiments in vertebrate species - including in our closest primate relatives - have borne out that idea.

[FroggyTheGremlim]

I read the headline - thought it was another hit piece on GWB.

[Izzy Dunne]

Bush’s fault?

[null and void]

balls? You had to post this dincha?

[Marty62]

Let me guess. Gov’t funded study?

[null and void]

I’m ever upper class high society
God’s gift to ballroom notoriety
I always fill my ballroom
The event is never small
The social pages say I’ve got
The biggest balls of all

[runninglips]

On the day I was born...

Nurses all gathered 'round

They gazed in wide eyed wonder

At the boy they had found

The head nurse spoke up

Said leave this one alone

They could tell right away

I was hung like a stud cricket.

[KarlInOhio]

Odd name. I would have expected it being named the Clinton Cricket.

[TexGuy]

Is putting “Bush cricket” instead of “Bushcricket” in this insidious headline a way of the BBC taking one last jab at W.? ... Only the Liberal twits at the BBC can say for sure ...

[Dahoser]

Scientists have found a bushcricket species with testicles that account for up to 14% of its body weight.

I always wondered what was up with that hat. Not anymore.

[Doogle]

..reminds me of the South Park episode.

[Irenic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g23GiivXC78

[FroggyTheGremlim]

Just predicting - this thread will break records ...

[MortMan]

Some balls are held for dancing,
And some for fancy dress,
But those that are held for pleasure,
Are the balls that I like best.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Can an insect be promiscuous?

This seems like a Leftist approach to the study of insects.

i.e. something they like to identify with - “promiscuous insects”.

[oyez]

Scientists have found a bushcricket species with testicles that account for up to 14% of its body weight.

Not to worry. Some social justice outfit will fix all that.

[balls]

[carpediem365]

Burst out laughing! Thanks.

[basil]

So did I! LOL!

[tx_eggman]

I thought size didn't matter ....

Just damn ...