When you step outside, one of the first living things you can see will be insects. They can be found in every climate and habitat on earth. You can find insects that live in the snow to deep underground. They are the tiny conquerors of our planet. With over 95 million different species, there is bound to be strange insect mating rituals. Here are a few insect mating maladies brought to you by your friends at Green Pest Control, which we found to be distinctively strange.

More is Better?

If you are a mayfly, the clock is ticking. You only have one day–yep 24 hours–as an adult to find a suitable candidate and mate. In order to increase the odds of finding an eligible male or female, mayflies become adults at the same time. This means that millions upon millions of winged adults take to the skies for their final foray into the world of dating and mating. In fact, a massive hatching of mayflies caused a bridge to close in Wrightsville Pennsylvania. There were too many mayflies.

 

Rough Love

Bed bugs are nasty to have in your home. They come out at night, bite you while you sleep, and drink your blood. Bed bug mating is just as violent as bed bug feeding. Male bed bugs use a vicious process called traumatic insemination. They stab through the body of the female with a needle-like member and inseminate her. Unfortunately, female bed bugs have developed a spongy inner material that minimizes the damage. This means there will soon be more bed bugs sharing your pillow. However, if there is a case of mistaken identity and a male stabs another male, the receiving bed bug can die. That is enough to make you cheer.

Love Bites

There is a reason they are called black widows. Black Widow spiders love to eat their mates after the frisky business is done. Male black widow spiders combat this by tying up females in strands of sticky webbing. Male black widows might be a little bit kinky, but this precaution doesn’t always work. Sometimes the larger female will break through the webbing and eat the male spider anyway.