Several scientists believe they have found the reason why octopuses commit suicide after mating. Many times, there was talk of a kind of hormonal reaction that led these animals to die.
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The short life of octopuses
In fact, it is hard to know how long octopuses can live. It is a matter of isolating them and preventing them from mating, but in nature this cannot happen. By reproducing, they begin to harm themselves.
Both females and males have this problem. Even the females hardly have time to lay eggs. Soon after, they stop living and the newborns are never in contact with their parents.
This self-destructive behavior of octopuses has proven inexplicable. However, laboratory work has been done for decades and a logical explanation for this behavior seems to have been reached.
What happens to these animals after mating?
There is such a thing as the “programmed death of the octopus”. Once it has been reproduced, it has fulfilled its function and must be eliminated. Apparently the reason is that the offspring are born ready to feed and defend themselves.
Due to the aforementioned, it is not necessary for “parents to raise and care for the little ones”. So, the parent octopuses must die so as not to consume food that can serve the young that will be developing.
This way in which nature solves the life of certain beings is very unique. Everything seems to indicate that the “self-destruct button” is activated in the optic gland of these animals, responsible for sexual hormones.
The optic gland substances act in a programmed manner. First, they make the animal stop eating. Then they stress him out and cause him to hurt himself. Finally, they force him to move relentlessly until he dies.
There is no way to avoid this reaction. As soon as the gland detects that mating has occurred, the sequence begins: don’t eat, hurt yourself, move restlessly. Result? The octopus dies without remedy.
Do other animal species die after mating?
If they exist, among which we can mention: spiders, praying mantises, bees, scorpions and others. However, it happens that the male is the one who usually dies after the sexual act is performed.
In contrast, in octopuses both the female and the male lose their lives. This way of proceeding is still somewhat mysterious, but there are already advances to understand the causes.
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Did you know this peculiarity of octopuses? There are many mysteries in nature, as each species assumes evolution in a different way.
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