How Do Insects Mate?
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Navigation and Courtship
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All insects spend their entire lives mating, and the mating process for most insects is generally the same. They use various skills to track down a mate: For instance, insects like the fly rely on their navigation system. Flies have compound eyes and very good eyesight, as well as a strong sense of smell. When these senses reveal the presence of a potential mate, a male fly will fertilize the female in the air (during flight). Some insects display mating behaviors also seen in the animal world. Dragonflies are very aggressive and territorial when they are mating. They will defend their mate and the site in which they choose to lay their eggs. Some dragonflies have also been seen attacking humans if they feel that their mate or eggs are in danger. Other insects like the honeybee will spend time courting a particular mate by flying around this potential partner in a rhythmic fashion. There are also rare cases in which the female will reject the male insect during courtship if she doesn't want to mate with him. It is unknown why some insects are rejected, but this seldom happens in the insect world.
Attraction: Sounds, Visual Signals and Pheromones
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Most insects spray their scent in order to attract a mate directly to them. Nearly all insects use pheromones to make themselves more appealing to a potential mate. Butterflies--who spend a great deal of time, day in and day out, looking for a partner--attract a mate with visual signals that make them appear more beautiful to another insect. Female fireflies also use visual signals like flashing light to let males know they are available to mate. Other insects like the cricket use sound to attract a partner. Have you ever heard a cricket chirping all night long just outside your door, or even underneath your couch? Crickets chirp and make sounds in order to call a mate to them. They will continually chirp and call until they are paired up.
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Fertilization and Egg Laying
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Female insects of several different species mate with several different partners during their lifetime. Some female insects, like the black widow spider, will even attack and eat the male soon after mating with him. These male black widows are generally much smaller than the females as well. The majority of insects need a male to fertilize eggs. The eggs (larva) are usually laid within the same day of fertilization. The average male insect will fertilize a female by injecting his sperm directly inside her through a small opening. A strange-looking insect called the rotting banana mates by mounting the female from behind and inserting its penis inside her. Other insects like the robber fly mate by turning their backs to each other and connecting from behind, becoming intertwined until fertilization happens. Standard houseflies will lay their eggs soon after fertilization takes place. After the eggs hatch, maggots emerge, and later mature into adult flies. For flies, the process happens rather quickly; they have a very short life span.
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