Mating - A sequence of photos showing a pair of common blues mating. Prior to mating - not shown
- the male must pass sperm from his primary genitalia located on the 8th abdominal segment to
his secondary genitalia located on the second abdominal segement. Then the male - in the photos
on top in blue - grabs with female's thorax with his legs. The female then brings her genitalia
located on her 8th segement to met the male's secondary genitalia, and the pair form a 'wheel'
or 'heart' shape. Sperm is then transferred from the male to the female. After mating the female
will then lay eggs in a process known as ovipositioning - not shown.