#insect mating

Air pollution is having an unbelievable effect on flies, altering how they attract one another and mate. What’s happening? Insects typically find their mates by heavily relying on pheromones –– chemicals that allow males and females to locate each other and mate. These pheromones are distinctive to males and females of a species, and in the case of flies, they are being disrupted and degraded by the pervasive increase of ozone in the air, which is a result of air pollution. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany discovered these effects by developing an experiment that mimicked ozone levels similar to what is measured during the summertime in cities. Typically, male flies’ pheromones attract females while simultaneously repelling other males. But increased ozone levels caused a decrease in pheromones, which caused females to be less attracted to males and led to courtship between male flies. […] The effects of this news are substantial. It is not just flies that are affected –– ozone is thought to affect the patterns of many insects. Pheromone communication is not only used for mating. It also helps insects identify members of the same species and their communities, such as bee hives, wasp nests, and ant colonies. Nothing sounds more chaotic than a bunch of ants, bees, and wasps confused and out of place.

After they won April's Theme Contest with a lovely mayfly shot, octopus_fool's suggestion for the May Theme Contest - Insect (and the other inverts, why not ) Reproduction. This should turn up some interesting photos - there's an old saw about the pleasure being fleeting, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable, but ridiculous positions is certainly a feature of invertebrate reproduction. Consider spiders, or dragonflies, for example. And of course, that most acrobatic of animals, the slug.