10 supremely self-destructive animals

Brown Antechinus – Manic Mating Mortality With a lack of food and extreme energy expenditure on mating, the males focus all their energy on reproduction at the expense of their own survival, simply mating themselves to death.

Honey bee – Stings for the Greater Good Honey bees may be familiar and are also feared as potential deliverers of an extremely painful sting. Such a sting can even be life-threatening for the seriously allergic, but fortunately most honey bee stings end in a deadly fate

The Exploding Ants of Borneo – Walking Insect Bomb Explosive attacks may be the stuff of military-themed movies, but for certain hair trigger ants in Borneo, blowing themselves to oblivion is exactly how they fight for the greater goal of colony survival.

Anglerfish – Overly Attached Boyfriend For these strange fish, mating is a time of complete loss of autonomy and physical identity for the males. Males track females and then bite into her body, continually hanging on. Gradually, his body tissues and bloodstream join with that of the female.

Bedbugs – Traumatic Insemination Known as “traumatic insemination,” bedbug reproduction consists, essentially, of the male stabbing the female in her abdomen with his specially adapted stabbing reproductive equipment

Painted Buntings – Deadly Duelers Native to the South-central and Southeastern United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America, Painted Bunting males are among the most stunningly colored and patterned small birds in existence. Yet, the glorious appearance of these birds is sullied by a mating season lifestyle so violent that is nothing short of hideous at times.

Guppy – Offspring Hunter Despite their prolific reproductive abilities, female guppies are notorious for giving birth to a group of adorable and minute guppy fry only to then consume them in an act of parental cannibalism. 

Stegodyphus lineatus Spiders – Self-destructive Moms Parenting may involve sacrifice, but the female Desert Spider Stegodyphus lineatus takes parenting one gruesome step further. Females catch more prey and then regurgitate the meals for their young.

Brush-tailed Phascogale – Heartthrob Horrors The largest mammal in which the males die after mating, the Brush-tailed Phasogale is a species whose males suffer hormonal chaos and organ breakdown that swiftly brings his death soon after mating.

Australian Redback Spider – Cannibalism and Underage Relationships Males are less than half the size of females, and are often victims of what is somewhat terrifyingly termed “sexual cannibalism.” Females devour males to gain protein as a reproductive advantage.

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