US EPA

7414269 

Journal Article 

Why Do Only Male Deer Have Antlers? 

Majdic, G; , 

2021 

59-68 

10.1007/978-3-030-67212-6_9 

http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-67212-6_9
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Insects are the most numerous group of animals on earth. As such, they have developed many different ways of sexual reproduction. In most primitive species, males deposit a sac full of sperm called spermatophore lying around, waiting to be found and picked up by females. However, as this is not the most efficient way to reproduce, many insects developed copulation and internal fertilization. In many insects, males and females only mate once, and after mating, females often store the sperms for the rest of their life. Such an example is honeybees. The queen is fertilized only once and can later determine whether she will produce male or female progeny by fertilizing the eggs (thus producing females) or leaving them unfertilized (producing drones). In some insects (and also spiders), mating is a dangerous affair for the males, as females often consume males after the copulation.