It's Valentine's Day, and just to make this "holiday" even more awkward, here are some images of bugs having sex.

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Bugs and Spiders Disguised as Poop, Leaves, and Each OtherOr rather, copulating. That's what scientists call it. Researchers studying bug sex measure things like the number of copulations and the duration of copulations. They describe how bats "eavesdrop on acoustic cues emanating from copulating flies," announce the "earliest record of copulating insects from the Middle Jurassic of China," and assess the ways in which female spiders can "bias paternity post-copulatorily."

In other words, they make bug sex sound all kinds of fancy. Really, most of what bug sex does is just bring more insects and spiders into the world (which is a good thing). But the reproductive imperative is also responsible for some of the craziest behaviors and most elaborate ornamentation in the animal kingdom. It can also look really funny. Here, captured under the lens of Singapore-based macrophotographer Nicky Bay, are some images of arthropods engaged in copulatory behavior.

All photos copyright and used with permission by Nicky Bay