So you think some humans have strange sex lives? I can pretty much guarantee they're tame compared to what some animals get up to...

Curious liaisons: Nature's weirdest sex lives

Some mantis species have discovered that the nerves which start male copulation are located in his abdomen, whereas those that stop copulation are stored in his head. Ideally, he would grip his mate rigidly then jump away. But that's trickier than it sounds, and many slip off. And if they're unfortunate enough to get too near her mandibles, she'll 'help' him give her everything he's got, then he'll provide her with a nutitious meal. After all, he's not going to be eating much when his head is seperated from his body...

Bonella viridis has found an ideal solution to finding a mate - any (normally female) larvae that land on her are chemically transformed into tiny males, which then creep up her body, into her mouth, and migrate down to her uterus. So they get a life of ultimate safety, while she has 20 males on tap to fertilise her eggs.

Aphids usually reproduce by pathenogenesis, but occasionally do have sex. Why? To acquire an STD...

If you thought asexual reproduction and pathenogenesis was limited to insects, think again. It's occasionally been observed in lizards and birds, but mortality rates and developmental problems abound. But two white-spotted bamboo sharks are causing a puzzle for scientists. They are clones of each other, born to a mother who's never shared her tank with a male. But these pair are five years old and apparently healthy...

The mushroom coral must be the ultimate gender bender. When conditions get tough, it can switch from female to male, then when conditions improve, some will flip between sexes, choosing the one that will give them the best chance of reproducing, depending on what their nearest neighbours are up to...

Pity fire ant males. They are only produced when a sterile queen egg is fertilised. If they fertilise an egg with queen DNA, a sterile worker is produced. So effectively they're cut out of the entire genetic line, as new queens are produced by cloning.

You've heard of female surrogacy. How about male surrogates? Marmosets are frequently born as chimeric fraternal twins, so it's entirely possibly for a male to mate with his brother's sperm...

Finally, fancy a life of celibacy? The bdelloid rotifer has managed to survive without sex for 80 million years...