The "Traumatic" Love Lives of Bugs - Nik Tatarnic

The words "traumatic" and "hypodermic" don't generally leave humans feeling lovey dovey. But for many animals, their reproductive reality includes both. National Geographic explorer and biologist Nik Tatarnic explains "traumatic insemination," the method by which the males of many insect species, including bed bugs and Tahitian plant bugs, "stab" the female in the side in order to fertilize the eggs. Tatarnic also points out that there is much confusion in the bed bug world, as they can't tell the difference between a male and a female, which leads to same-sex mating, and occasional mating attempts with critters of another species.