Bug Stats:  Most promiscuous female insect

The top two contenders for sluttiest bug are the Giant Honey Bee and The Cobalt Milkweed Beetle.  Here is why:

“Polyandry refers to a female mating with more than one male. Although more common in eusocial Hymenoptera, polyandry is widespread across various taxa. Apis dorsata (Hymenoptera:Apidae) is here named as the most polyandrous insect because it has been recorded to mate up to 53 times, each with a different male. A blue milkweed beetle, Chrysochus cobaltinus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) female has recorded up to 60 matings, though some of these were multiple matings with the same male.”-here

Male Bees really give it up to the Queens- literally.  Male bees-  called drones- live a short amount of time, only certain parts of the year and only to mate.  The hive is only made up of a queen and all of her daughters.  Males go and mate with queens and die shortly after- but not before he gives her part of his manhood.  Yes, before he gives up life he gives up his penis… many males will fight over one queen and the lucky winner gets to give her his boy parts and she doesn’t give it back.

“The extensively cultivated insect, Apis mellifera is judged to have the most spectacular mating because a “comet” of drones pursues the female with the winner forfeiting a portion of his phallus at the end of coitus and dying soon thereafter.”-here

bigmouthlittlefists:

katreus:

In a simple experiment, researchers at the University of Chicago sought to find out whether a rat would release a fellow rat from an unpleasantly restrictive cage if it could. The answer was yes.

The free rat, occasionally hearing distress calls from its compatriot, learned to open the cage and did so with greater efficiency over time. It would release the other animal even if there wasn’t the payoff of a reunion with it. Astonishingly, if given access to a small hoard of chocolate chips, the free rat would usually save at least one treat for the captive — which is a lot to expect of a rat.

The researchers came to the unavoidable conclusion that what they were seeing was empathy — and apparently selfless behavior driven by that mental state.

“A New Model of Empathy: The Rat” by David Brown, Washington Post

 i’m slowly loving psychology more and more

I heard about this on NPR last night.  I’ve always loved rats for their intelligence and misunderstood lives..  now this gives me another reason to love them.