Watch: Small insects engage in cannibal sex

Every species has its preferred characteristics that are desirable in a mate. For humans, it may be a fondness for the tall, dark and handsome type. But for small insects known as grigs, it's all about the wings. Female grigs apparently become so taken by a male's wing that they will consume them while mating, ripping and tearing at the wings and feasting on the male's blood.

In fact, cannibalism seems to be a major component of grig sexual relations.

As the video above shows, the female grig, on top, is eating her mate's wings and feasting on his blood despite his best efforts to impregnate her. And the male is a glutton for punishment. He won't be deterred by the loss of body parts and continues to deploy the hook-like organ protruding from his abdomen to keep his partner in place until the process is finished.

How exactly grigs evolved to include cannibalism in its mating rituals is something researchers are still investigating. A recent study has found that female grigs will go so far as to mate with different species when food runs low to nosh on more wings.

As the leader of the study, Kevin Judge, told New Scientist, "All their own males are tapped out and they just go with what's available."