LOVE TO DIE FOR
“Come here sexy and let me taste you.” Under circumstances involving foreplay with the tongue, this is what lovers may want to hear. For the male praying mantis, these words have a literal meaning. After insemination and occasionally during the act, the female mantis will eat her mate’s head. The crazier part is that males agree to their fate by going through with sex, and they even help by bending their body closer to the female’s mouth! Mantises are not alone in sexual cannibalism. Spiders, scorpions, and some shrimp-like crustaceans called amphipods also dine on their mates.

THE GAMES WE PLAY
In the 1980s, Madonna released “Material Girl,” a true anthem for women all over the world who desire princess treatment from men who buy them gifts. Since then, it seems that being a “material girl” is a bad thing, but the funny part is that men have become equally materialistic. Girlfriends often buy things like Jordan’s, Playstations, and digital cameras for their significant other. Male balloon flies will create a balloon of silk with insect-parts inside for their mates. The female will choose the best mate and munch on the present while the males prepare to do their thing. While the male fly may be clever, he hopes the female will take the gift and eat what’s inside and not him.

The idea of two men fighting over one woman can be hot and quite dangerous. The next game that seems to be a favorite among women, sad to say, is instigating fights—especially between two men. Female northern elephant seals express this trait by starting physical conflicts to determine whom she will choose as a mate. This is similar to women fighting each other for the affections of one man. The same can be said of English moorhens, a type of bird, that will fight other females for the dominate male of the group. Jerry Springer has found success exploiting this human trait on television, as well.

HOMOSEXUALITY
A not-so-new taboo phenomenon in animals is homosexuality. According to an article published by Medical Science News, giraffes, lions, American bison, and dolphins—along with almost fifteen hundred other species—play around with their same gender. While many may look the other way and write off this behavior, things get a little hairier for our “cousins,” the chimpanzee. The dwarf chimpanzee, “one of humanity’s closest relatives,” is notorious for its same-sex behavior.

THE MARRYING KIND
Monogamy is hard to come by, especially in the animal kingdom. By human standards, monogamy would include sexual exclusivity, and with our mammal counterparts, that is not the case. Some animals do practice “monogamy,” but it is more dominant through pair bonding. For most species, the male may have intercourse with many females, but he still stays with one female from reproduction until death. So even with mammals, females become baby mommas before they are permanent partners.