Insects don’t go on romantic dates, sing love songs under the moonlight, or cuddle up for Netflix nights. Their sex lives are all about reproduction — fast, functional, and often shockingly brutal. And the results? Scenarios that are too disturbing even for the scariest horror films. Here are ten insects whose mating habits are so weird, violent, or confusing, you’ll be glad you’re human.
1. Praying mantises: sex with a deadline
The most infamous insect drama: during or after mating, the female bites off the male’s head — starting with his face. Why? Because sometimes it actually improves his performance. His death nourishes the female, increasing the survival chances of her eggs.
It doesn’t happen every time, but often enough that this is standard mantis romance: mate and end up as a snack.
2. Julodimorpha bakewelli – sex with a beer bottle
This beetle became famous because males kept trying to mate with… empty beer bottles. The color, texture, and warmth of the bottle resembled an attractive female. They would climb and “seduce” it for hours.
Australia even had to redesign beer bottles because beetles were literally mating themselves to death on the glass. Love is blind — especially when you’ve got six legs.
3. Flesh flies: climax before contact
Some flies — like the flesh fly — produce sperm before even touching the female. Once he’s close, he fires it in via a long tube. No flirting. No touching. Just aim, shoot, and hope. Sex at a distance, 21st-century style.
4. Cicadas: waiting 17 years for a date
Some periodical cicadas live underground as larvae for 13 to 17 years. Then they swarm above ground, live for just a few weeks — only to mate — and die.
A sex life that consists of one summer panic date after almost two decades underground. No pressure, right?
5. Fruit flies: sperm with poison
Male fruit flies produce sperm that contains toxins — harmful to rival sperm and even to the female. It reduces her chances of mating again. Handy for him, not so much for her.
This chemical sabotage is so effective that it damages the female over time — but the male is long gone. Love as a weapon.
6. Nephila spiders: detachable penises
Some male Nephila spiders leave their reproductive organ behind inside the female after mating — like a plug. It prevents other males from fertilizing her. Downside: the male doesn’t survive. Or at the very least, he’s done dating.
7. Bee queens: mid-air sex, death on the ground
Honeybee queens take flight for a mating frenzy, during which dozens of males try to inseminate her. When they succeed, their sex organ breaks off and stays inside her — and they die instantly.
The queen stores the sperm for life-long egg-laying. And the males? They die in ecstasy — or from an overachieving erection, really.
8. Orb-weaving spiders : voluntary cannibals
Like praying mantises, some male orb-weaving spiders let themselves be eaten after mating. Not by accident — on purpose. Studies suggest that females who feast on their mates produce more and healthier eggs.
The ultimate self-sacrifice for the species. Romantic? Not really. Heroic? Depends on your definition of “making it.”
9. Dragonflies: sex with aerial acrobatics
Dragonflies form a “mating wheel” mid-air, where the male curls his penis toward his chest and the female loops her body to connect. They fly together in tandem throughout.
Like hanging off a bicycle, doing yoga, and mating — all while flying and hunting. Respect.
10. Bedbugs: traumatic insemination
This one is truly bizarre. Male bedbugs skip the reproductive tract entirely and literally stab the female in the abdomen to inject sperm. Her body must then “transport” the sperm to where it belongs.
It’s not called traumatic insemination for nothing.
Insect sex is not a romantic scene. It’s a battle, a biological gamble, or a gruesome feat — involving severed genitals, cannibalism, and chemical warfare. While we swoon over candlelight and slow dancing, insects have only one thing on their mind: survival.
