![if damsel flies have evolved to grow…scoopers, then we can hardly expect monogamy from those insects.
it’s always interesting to discover which sex of each species evolves physically to enhance natural selection. for ducks, the females make the mating decision with their labyrinthine vaginas. for damsel flies, it’s the men who decide whose sperm stays and whose goes.
nprfreshair:
On today’s Fresh Air, how various insects mate: “Damsel flies have a type of scoop on their penis which they can use to drag out the sperm from a previous male and replace it with their own. It means that if [one male] is able to displace the sperm of another male, then the genes for being able to displace the genes of another male are going to be the ones that fertilize the female … So her offspring are going to be able to displace sperm.”
[pictured: a pair of flies mating on a leaf via Alex Wild]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpz88226MM1qd9dz2o1_500.jpg "if damsel flies have evolved to grow…scoopers, then we can hardly expect monogamy from those insects.
it’s always interesting to discover which sex of each species evolves physically to enhance natural selection. for ducks, the females make the mating decision with their labyrinthine vaginas. for damsel flies, it’s the men who decide whose sperm stays and whose goes.
nprfreshair:
On today’s Fresh Air, how various insects mate: “Damsel flies have a type of scoop on their penis which they can use to drag out the sperm from a previous male and replace it with their own. It means that if [one male] is able to displace the sperm of another male, then the genes for being able to displace the genes of another male are going to be the ones that fertilize the female … So her offspring are going to be able to displace sperm.”
[pictured: a pair of flies mating on a leaf via Alex Wild]")
if damsel flies have evolved to grow…scoopers, then we can hardly expect monogamy from those insects.
it’s always interesting to discover which sex of each species evolves physically to enhance natural selection. for ducks, the females make the mating decision with their labyrinthine vaginas. for damsel flies, it’s the men who decide whose sperm stays and whose goes.
On today’s Fresh Air, how various insects mate: “Damsel flies have a type of scoop on their penis which they can use to drag out the sperm from a previous male and replace it with their own. It means that if [one male] is able to displace the sperm of another male, then the genes for being able to displace the genes of another male are going to be the ones that fertilize the female … So her offspring are going to be able to displace sperm.”
[pictured: a pair of flies mating on a leaf via Alex Wild]
