Let’s be honest, everyone has gone to some extent to woo their significant others. And if you think of it, animals are no different either. While humans use greeting cards, flowers, treats, or some sweet talk to melt the hearts of their significant other, animals have a different method of getting the message across. Some of them like to dance and some like to gift their mate a nice rock, while others risk their lives only to mate.
Nature is quite unpredictable yet interesting at the same time. For these animals, companionship might be lethal but they’d rather look at it as a ride of a lifetime–a last hurrah, if you will. So, here are some animals that showcase unique courtship rituals, just for our reading pleasure.
1. Peacock Spiders
These spiders are extremely small in size. Upon careful examination, it was discovered that these little fellas have quite the knack for dancing and in order to attract a female, the male spider will show off its bright colors like a peacock does, and dance in front of the female, hoping to impress her.
Jurgen Otto/Flickr | If the female has already mated then she’ll eat the male up.
2. Deep-Sea Angler Fish
The Deep Sea Angler Fish may have gained their fierce reputation from the famous Disney film ‘Finding Nemo’ but in reality, they are all about love. The male Angler put their sizable nostrils to use as they roam around the deep-sea searching for female pheromones. Once they find their beloved, they bite into the belly of the much larger female and then become a part of her body to the extent that they rely on the female for nutrition. Meanwhile, the female becomes self-sufficient to make the offspring. The male will then fade away as his body begins to dissolve until all there is left is the reproductive tissue hanging from the female.
Peter David/Getty Images | Talk about losing yourself to love
3. Field Crickets
It’s not only humans who like to adhere to beauty standards when it comes to finding a mate. Field Crickets do too. In a study, scientists revealed that female crickets prefer mating with attractive males. They do this when the crickets mate and the male leaves his spermatophore tube behind. If the female leaves it in longer, then the mate is attractive. If she removes it before sperm is passed, the mate wasn’t up to her standards.
Alexsvirid/Dreamstime.com | Female crickets don’t sugar-coat it
Maybeus humans need to learn a few tricks from these animals and learn to be a little more selfless when it comes to matters of the heart.