First Report of Necrophilia in the Form of Necrocoitus among Insects, Involving Two Male <i>Cryptotympana atrata</i> (Fabricius, 1775) Cicadas

Abstract

The unusual case of a male Cryptotympana atrata cicada from China attempting to mate with a dead male conspecific is described and illustrated. Although hitherto unreported, necrophilic behaviour in the form of an attempted necrocoitus, involving dead male or female corpses, may not be as isolated a case as has been previously assumed, but it does not seem to have been mentioned earlier in the entomological literature. Although the described behaviour could have been an expression of a lack of opportunity to locate a cooperative female, several other possibilities, referred to in the Discussion, exist and should not be dismissed.

Keywords

• auchenorrhyncha
• homosexual
• mating
• aberrant behaviour
• thanatophilia