Is there any species that reproduces through sex but doesn’t have sex for pleasure, too?
A tree?
The list of species that have sex for “pleasure” is pretty short compared to the ones that do it solely for reproduction.
How would you get non-human critters to have sex in the first place if they weren’t experiencing some physical pleasure from it (at least the male/stronger half of the couple, at any rate)? It’s not as though you can sit them down and explain to them how it’s their duty to the Party, or the species, or whatever.
What other motivation does any animal have for sex, other than pleasure? How do you know they associate it with reproduction? When do you know it’s just instinct?
Do trees have sex?
I agree, although then you have to ask someone to define “pleasure”. But a most animals are obeying a more primitive and involuntary drive than just pleasure-seeking. If you’ve ever seen cats reproduce you’ve got to wonder if there’s any pleasure involved there at all. In most mammals the reproductive act is pretty brief, just whatever is biologically necessary.
I have read (no cite) that bonobos seem to display pleasure-seeking behavior in sex.
Yes, but it’s more for ent-ertainment than pleasure.
In fairness, I’m quite certain that cats feel the same way about us.
“Good lord, she’s screaming again. Should we go help her?!”
From what I understand of feline sex (at least among domestic cats), it’s a very painful process for the female. So unless all cats are into pain, there must be other motivating factors.
It’s pretty difficult to guess what the OP might actually be asking.
However,
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If the question is whether organisms have sex purely “for pleasure,” that is, when they are not actually in reproductive condition (capable of producing offspring) then the answer is very very few.
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If the question is what the “motivation” for sex is, then all organisms that are capable of feeling “pleasure” have sex only for pleasure (or at least to satisfy their instinctual drives), since they are not “aware” of any more complex motivations. But of course many organisms, such as trees, fungi, and microorganisms, can’t really be said to experience “pleasure” at all.
It’s also worth pointing out that many species have sex only once and then die immediately after reproduction.
Yeah, but when they’re done, the male always leaves.
Roots, shoots, and then leaves.
Maybe you should explain what you mean by “have sex,” and by “pleasure.”
Mantises (mantis’? Mantii?) I’m pretty sure that the male doesn’t derive pleasure from it.
Then again, some dogs and many rabbits (plus undoubtedly many other animals) have a tendancy to hump anything that moves. While the humping animal may be in reproductive condition, the knee or shoe they’re engaged with probably isn’t.
I’m aware that humping in dogs also serves a social purpose in establishing the dominance order, which isn’t exactly for pleasure, but it’s not procreative, either.
And if the male mantis (I imagine the plural is mantes) doesn’t enjoy it, then why the heck does he do it? I’d suspect that, in so far as mantes can enjoy anything, they enjoy sex immensely.
According to this, the male usually survives.
Of course, it goes on to say:
Which is why it’s sooo important to take them out to dinner first.
Well, since most fruits and vegetables reproduce sexually (pollination, you know), I’d have to say that most of the sex that goes on all over the planet is not the having fun kind of sex.
Quite true. For that matter, it doesn’t even have to move. Male ducks engage in necrophila (known in the scientific literature as “Davian behavior,” after the hermit in the well-known limerick), including homosexual necrophilia, which indicates that reproduction is certainly not the uppermost thing on their tiny ducky minds.
I’m pretty sure that only humans, bonobos, and dolphins have sex for pleasure. I have no idea how necrophiliac ducks and leg-humping dogs fit in.