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I do like looking at the CBC technology and science section, every once and awhile they have some neat off the wall type articles like this one.
“Biologists at the University of Cincinnati used a laser ablation technique to remove part or all of the millimetre-long spines, which are too small to remove using a scalpel.
They then allowed the shaved males to mate to see what role the spines played in copulation.”
Apparently, male fruit flies need sharp protrusions on their reproductive organs to make coupling more successful. This is not particularly outlandish ( ducks rank high) and the whole process is called ‘traumatic insemination‘. Looks squicky, but it gets the job done.
“Those that got the full laser treatment, however, had only a 20 per cent chance of successfully mating with a female. When in competition with unshaven males for available females, the shaven males almost always lost.”
So now you know. :)
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