Octopuses are some of the most antisocial, unfriendly animals alive. Yet their bodies have evolved in such a way that they must mate in the most intimate way possible: the male has to insert his sperm directly into the female's body using one of his arms. The resulting mating practices are not just a curiosity: they are a window onto how octopuses have evolved into the creatures they are today.
Male octopuses have a big problem: female octopuses. Each male wants to mate and pass on his genes to a new generation. The trouble is, the female is often larger and hungrier than he is, so there is a constant risk that, instead of mating, the female will strangle him and eat him.
The males have a host of tricks to survive the mating process. Some of them can quite literally mate at arm's length. Others sneak into a female's den disguised as another gal, or sacrifice their entire mating arm to the female and then make a hasty retreat.
Sexual cannibalism does happen in nature - witness the male-eating praying mantis and black widow spiders - but strangulation during mating is a rarity.
Article:http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150223-mysteries-of-cannibal-octopus-sex
Image Credit: Pierangelo Pirak
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