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Humans have some odd customs around gift -giving and courtship.
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I mean, chocolate is this one specific tropical bean that's been fermented, roasted, and mixed with sugar.
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But on a date, it tends to go over pretty well.
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However, humans aren't the only ones who bring gifts to a potential mate.
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Gift -giving is a behavior that occurs in many species across the animal kingdom.
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And these gifts do more than make a good first impression.
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They generally provide substantial benefits that ensure a better outcome for the pair's offspring.
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But the gifts themselves can be, well, chocolate they ain't.
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So from poison to mucus and a few bodily fluids in between, let's explore a few creatures who take gift -giving to a whole new level.
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Six -spot burnet moths bestow upon their potential mate a toxic gift—actual poison.
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These critters have a deadly talent that develops when they're just a wee caterpillar.
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They're able to produce hydrogen cyanide, a chemical that, in high enough concentrations, can even be deadly to a potential predator.
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These critters incorporate some of the toxins that plants make as a chemical defense against pests, and their bodies convert them into hydrogen cyanide.
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This chemical causes them to have an unpleasant taste, so predators tend to steer clear.
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The red spots on the moths' bodies serve as a warning sign to keep away.
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And during the mating process, the male moths are able to transfer some of their cyanide to the females.
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Not to kill them, mind you.
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Instead, researchers believe they are passing it along for additional protection against potential predators.
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This gift is like the insect equivalent of gifting a couple dozen roses,
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because the process of creating the cyanide is fairly energetically costly for the moths.
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Female moths are capable of producing cyanide too and actually emit plumes of it to attract a mate,
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but the males still gift them a little extra during courtship,
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which allows the females to put their energy into laying eggs while keeping their defenses up.
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The female also uses some of that poison to coat her eggs with as an added layer of protection against potential predators.
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And researchers have found that the females value how much cyanide is gifted to them,
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preferentially choosing a male based on how large his cyanide gift was.
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Which may mean that these moths are becoming more toxic over time, as the females are constantly selecting for large cyanide gifts.
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Now, the red velvet mite goes to great lengths to woo a mate.
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The male doesn't just bring a gift, he builds a beautiful, intricate space for his potential mate.
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And this little mite creates an elaborate setup out of sticks, leaves, grass, and sperm.
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Researchers tactfully refer to this as a love garden.
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The sperm is dotted all over the sticks and grass,
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acting as both decoration and a sticky web holding all of the pieces of the meticulously designed space together.
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Once constructed, the male leaves an intricate path of silk leading up to the space for a mate to find.
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Then he sits in front of his masterpiece until a potential mate wanders by and notices his handiwork.
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And when a potential mate does come along,
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the male will perform a little dance in front of the space as a way of capturing her attention
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and enticing her into coming closer.
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And if the female mite is intrigued, she will enter the garden he's created to investigate the space further.
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If the female sits down in that space, the sperm can impregnate her.
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Unfortunately, the competition for a mate can be stiff among mites.
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That same trail he wove for his mate to find can be discovered by another male instead.
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The other male will immediately tear down the garden and build up his own in its place,
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as a way of ensuring that it's his sperm that contributes to the next generation.
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So red velvet mites have to be fancy and quick in order to catch a female before the competition swoops in.
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Now, it does make sense for sperm to be involved during courtship, but that's far from the only bodily fluid on offer.
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For example, some creatures will offer up their own blood to their mates during the mating process.
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Ground crickets give their mates access to their blood, or rather their hemolymph, which is the insect equivalent of blood.
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Male ground crickets have evolved large spurs on their tibia for female ground crickets to chew on during mating.
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That gives the female access to the male's hemolymph in the process.
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Researchers believe that this gift provides specialized nutrition to the females, who gain access to nutrients that they might otherwise be lacking in their diets,
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including protein, fats, and carbohydrates.
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This comes in handy for the female, particularly during egg -laying, which is energetically costly.
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In fact, researchers have found that female ground crickets have a preference for large males over smaller ones, because the larger the male,
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the more hemolymph a female can get from his spur during mating.
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While it's likely this is not really a very pleasant experience for the male, it's a sacrifice that makes sense for the survival of his offspring,
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because a well -fed female will have more energy to put towards high -quality eggs.
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As a result, much like the burnet moths are selecting more poisonous mates,
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the female ground crickets are shifting the size of the overall population towards larger males.
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Now, a gift of blood might be too much of a sacrifice to make, so how about some spit instead?
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While hocking up a big loogie in front of a date is typically considered bad form among humans,
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that's pretty much what male scorpionflies will do for their potential mates.
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Scorpion fly males have evolved enlarged salivary glands, specifically for the ability to produce large balls of spit.
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Interestingly, only well -fed scorpion flies have the ability to produce spit balls.
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Those that are malnourished will choose to offer up a dead bug instead.
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Now, if you ask me, either of these gifts sounds less than appealing, but researchers believe that much like our cricket example,
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scorpion flies offer spit to provide the females with additional nutrients prior to egg -laying.
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Which is why a dead bug proves to be a decent substitute for a giant ball of spit
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if a male is unable to produce any spit himself.
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The female snacks on the spit during the mating process, which ensures she's well -fed enough to pass the male's genes along to the next generation.
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And sometimes, whether they can't make spit or just want to avoid making it in the first place,
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male scorpionflies will pretend to be females and steal the spit snack right out from under a competitor.
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The females select a mate based on their ability to produce a lot of spit it.
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The more spit, the more likely they are to prefer that individual.
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And I say cheers to that.
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Now, our next animal has quite a pointed way of interacting with its mate.
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Mutual stabbing, with a snot -coated dagger.
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While this sounds awful, this is a behavior frequently observed in land snails.
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And this isn't just a gentle poke.
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Researchers have observed snails retracting rapidly after being stabbed, suggesting that this is a fairly painful process.
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Yet it's a behavior that they frequently frequently perform during mating.
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Most land snails are hermaphrodites, which means they have both sperm and egg -producing reproductive organs.
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And during the mating process, some species of snails will stab each other with what researchers refer to as love darts.
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These love darts are made up of a hard piece that makes them sharp and dagger -like, and they're also coated in mucus.
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The hard part can be made up of a few different compounds, depending on the species of snail.
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Some use calcium carbonate, while others use a more flexible material like chitin or cartilage.
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Now, these darts are not to be confused with a penis.
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Each snail has one of those, too.
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And the snails can mate without the love darts.
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Once they use the dart, the snails need some time to regrow it, sometimes taking up to a week to generate another one.
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But researchers have found
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that snails who mated shortly after being stabbed by a love
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dart were twice as likely to sire offspring as those who weren't stabbed.
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So scientists believe the love darts are a way to encourage successful reproduction.
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The mucus on the darts contains a pheromone -like compound that targets the snail's egg -producing organs,
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encouraging them to store the sperm they're receiving from the other snail.
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All of these gifts sound fairly unusual from a human perspective, but they're particularly interesting to consider from an evolutionary point of view.
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These unique choices for gifts play important roles in mate selection
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and have probably helped to determine the evolutionary history of these species.
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With the exception of the land snails, most of the females are actively selecting for mate that produces their preferred gift in the right size,
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shape, or quantity.
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Researchers are always eager to learn more about the process of gift -giving in creatures,
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since very little is known about how these abilities evolved and were selected for with time.
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But if you ask me, I might just stick to bringing flowers and chocolate on a date.
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That said, if you're looking for gifts for this holiday season, Brilliant is great for the relentlessly curious person in your life.
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Brilliant's online courses in math, science, engineering, and computer science are designed to help you learn through interactivity.
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It gives you the satisfaction of letting you work through problems yourself, with explanations for any time you get stuck.
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Courses are even available offline through their iOS and Android apps,
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so you or your lucky gift recipient can keep learning on the go or with a spotty internet connection.
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The first 200 people to sign up at brilliant .org .scishow can save 20 % off an annual premium subscription to Brilliant,
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which you can also apply toward a gift subscription.
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So thanks for checking them out.
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We'll be right back.
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Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione
Questa lezione di conversazione si basa sul video “5 Gross Gifts Animals Give Their Mates”. Le parole che ritornano più spesso: gift, female, mate, male, snail. Questo video contiene 95 frasi e 1754 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 8:49. Chi parla va veloce, circa 199 parole al minuto: aspettati suoni legati e ridotti. Solo il 74% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese, quindi il lessico è impegnativo.
Vocaboli chiave di questo video
15 parole del video che vale la pena imparare, con pronuncia e significato:
| Parola | Pronuncia | Significato |
|---|---|---|
| spit verbo | /spɪt/ | sputare |
| snail sostantivo | /sneɪl/ | chiocciola, lumaca |
| researcher sostantivo | /ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/ | ricercatore, ricercatrice |
| dart sostantivo | /dɑɹt/ | dardo |
| stab verbo | /stæb/ | pugnalare, accoltellare |
| select verbo | /sɪˈlɛkt/ | scegliere, selezionare |
| coat sostantivo | /ˈkoʊ̯t/ | mantello, cappotto |
| predator sostantivo | /ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/ | predatore |
| poison sostantivo | /ˈpɔɪ.zən/ | veleno |
| subscription sostantivo | /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/ | abbonamento |
| offspring sostantivo | /ˈɔfspɹɪŋ/ | discendenti, prole |
| dagger sostantivo | /ˈdæɡɚ/ | daga, pugnale |
| encourage verbo | /ɪnˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/ | incoraggiare, raccomandare |
| refer verbo | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | riferire |
| grass sostantivo | /ɡɹɑːs/ | erba, graminacea |
I phrasal verb che sentirai
| Parola | Significato |
|---|---|
| build up verbo | accumulare |
| get off verbo | scendere |
La grammatica di questo video
Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:
| Struttura | Nel video |
|---|---|
| Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo fa | been fermented · is gifted · is dotted |
| Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adesso | that's been fermented · have found · have evolved |
| Frasi relative who / which + frase — un’informazione in più su una persona o una cosa | ones who bring · hemolymph, which is · laying, which is |
Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione
Chi parla usa 14 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come they're, aren't, ain't. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.
- I suoni “th”: mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, moth /mɔθ/
- I suoni “sh” e “zh”: subscription /səbˈskɹɪpʃən/, evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/
- Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, establishment /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ.mənt/, investigate /ɪnˈvɛs.tə.ɡeɪt/
I suoni difficili per chi parla italiano:
- /h/ — va soffiata, non è muta: hydrogen /ˈhaɪdɹəd͡ʒ(ə)n/, carbohydrate /kɑɹboʊˈhaɪdɹeɪt/, handiwork /ˈhændiˌwɝk/, hock /hɑk/
- Consonante finale — senza aggiungere una vocale dopo: spit /spɪt/, dart /dɑɹt/, stab /stæb/, select /sɪˈlɛkt/, coat /ˈkoʊ̯t/
- /æ/ — più aperta della “e”: stab /stæb/, dagger /ˈdæɡɚ/, sacrifice /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/, snack /snæk/, capture /ˈkæp.(t)ʃɚ/
Come esercitarsi con questo video
- Ascolta tutto il video una volta senza parlare e annota le parole che non conosci.
- Inizia a velocità 0,75×, fai shadowing frase per frase e torna alla velocità normale quando diventa facile.
- Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come spit, snail, researcher.
Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?
Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.