Humans Aren’t the Only Animals That Give Gifts

While you’re thinking of the perfect gifts for your loved ones this holiday season, male scorpionflies are crafting the perfect spitballs for theirs. Though spitballs sound unappealing to us, the female— a tan, slender-bodied, winged insect less than an inch long — finds the nutrient-packed ball of saliva a tasty treat. In fact, while she eats the gooey goodness, she rewards the male with an opportunity to mate with her.

And scorpionflies aren’t the only gift-giving animals besides humans; spiders, squid, snails, birds and many others strive to impress with presents. Most of the gifts traded among these species are— that is, anything that’s exchanged during mating or courtship to boost the gifter’s chance at reproduction.

Nuptial gifts range from prey wrapped in fine silk to proteins and hormones that increase the odds of mate and offspring . “The variety of things you find in nuptial gifts is just fascinating,” says Adam South, an assistant professor at Tufts University’s Cummings School for Veterinary Medicine who has studied sexual selection in arthropods for 15 years.. During sex, male fireflies provide their mates with gift packs of sperm and nutrients called spermatophores. When transferred to the female, the spermatophore fertilizes her eggs and supplies her with proteins and nutrition.

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