- Joined
- Feb 12, 2003
- Messages
- 339
I was lucky enough to witness my emps mating about 10 min ago. I've seen parts of it before, but this time I saw the whole process. One of my females (the smallest, who looks a bit bigger and may have molted) was out trying to climb the glass. My most sexually aggressive male came out about 10 min later. Me started doing the vibrating thing, which usually gets him no where, but after about 3 min or so she took the bait.
The 'dance' lasted for at least 20 min. The male stung her a few times (at least that's what it looked like), which was weird, but other than that, same old thing. Then I saw him release the spermatophore. I didn't actually see the thing, but I watched him violently shake his metasoma. The female then went completely limp, and he pushed and pulled her until she was in the right place. Afterward they followed each other around for a while, then he went back into his burrow.
I immediatly threw in some injured crickets, as I know how I am after . . . I mean, because I wanted to reduce the possibility of sexual cannibalism and provide nutrients for the newly gravid girl.
Well, that's my story, thanks for reading.
Chris
The 'dance' lasted for at least 20 min. The male stung her a few times (at least that's what it looked like), which was weird, but other than that, same old thing. Then I saw him release the spermatophore. I didn't actually see the thing, but I watched him violently shake his metasoma. The female then went completely limp, and he pushed and pulled her until she was in the right place. Afterward they followed each other around for a while, then he went back into his burrow.
I immediatly threw in some injured crickets, as I know how I am after . . . I mean, because I wanted to reduce the possibility of sexual cannibalism and provide nutrients for the newly gravid girl.
Well, that's my story, thanks for reading.
Chris