No, that's what I thought. There is fierce competition for females in mating season, and even successful attempts to copulate can be thwarted when another male comes along and undoes your work later on. Any means to prevent this will increase reproductive success. However, scientists aren't sure if this is actually the case, the wounds inflicted seem to simply be an unfortunate side effect that does not convey any reproductive benefit. It seems to be more useful in keeping the male attatched while it positions itself for maximum sperm delivery. The female does all it can to kick the male off with its kind legs, you can see why. The males with the most lethal phalluses tend to fertilise more eggs.
C. maculatus, seed beetles. Species that damage one another during mating are common, especially in insects. Evolution of torturous penises in seed beetles is fast, and has given rise to 20-30 species whose only differences are the shapes of their penises.
The females have evolved thicker padding in their tract, which heals after each copulation, 5-10 times during the 25-30 day long mating season. They are quite skilful at thwarting the male's attempts to mate. This evolutionary arms race between males and females uses up a lot of energy that could be spent elsewhere, and could threaten the species long-term viability as a species.
Ouch
Thanks Carnix
