Matters of family planning would not appear to be of a major concern in the animal kingdom, at least not in the realm of beetles and insects, or so it would seem. These gracious little creatures do not have to worry about unprotected sex or its consequences, such as STD, HIV or AIDS, at least as far as I am aware of.

All this went through my mind during a stroll through the wonderful landscape of Es Fangar, the beautiful privately owned finca in the municipality of Manacor. I was there with my family in search of a Talaiotic necropolis of the same name, that in the end we could not find. I was quite happy to settle for watching the mating act instead, voyeuristic as I am. I will not elaborate any further, because this is actually a family blog. My thanks to the owners, though, for letting us pass through their land.

I cannot help you, by the way, with identifying this loving couple. I would have thought that they were Escarabajos (beetles), most likely from the Coleoptera order and possibly the Buprestidae suborder of which there are said to exist some 100 species. If you happen to know more or better, please do not hesitate to enlighten us all.

The photo was taken near Manacor, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 3rd, 2009. The time was 14:38:04.