When a male honeybee reaches his climax, he explodes, his genitals ripped from his body with a loud snap. As many as 25,000 males may assemble to contend for a single queen, who takes to the skies and will mate with any male who can catch her. So by leaving his genitals inside the queen bee, the male bee hopes to prevent other males copulating with her, thus allowing his sperm to fertilize a larger proportion of her eggs and ensuring more of his genes will be passed on to the next generation.

Text adapted in part from Dr Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation