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submitted 3 weeks ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 36 points 3 weeks ago

Bed bugs use a process called traumatic insemination to reproduce. The male breaks the female’s shell to inject sperm into a cavity called the hemocoel. It travels around the bed bug’s ‘bloodstream’ to the ovaries and fertilizes the eggs. The female will then leave to find another harborage and lay eggs for 6-8 weeks after mating just once.

For those who don't know.

[-] WatTyler@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 weeks ago

Evolutionary, what advantage could this possibly hold?

[-] flyos@jlai.lu 9 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

As a whole? Basically none. It's advantageous for the males though, it's something that evolved in a context of sexual conflicts (males and females have contradictory evolutionary optima). Here the males advantage is to have a many mates as possible while the female is advantaged by being choosy regarding its mate(s).

Evolution is not always about optimising things for a whole species.