Weichkäfer. Gustatorische Balz: Beim Frontalspiel betrommeln sich beide Partner gegenseitig mit Fühlern und Vorderbeinen. Zum Beißakt dreht sich das Männchen um 180°, und das Weibchen beißt in das Elytralorgan des Männchens. Bei der Balz wechseln Frontalspiel und Organbiß mehrmals ab. Kopulation

The film deals with the pairing and copulation of the malachiide Axinotarsus pulicarius F. At the tips of his elytrons the male possesses an organ giving off a gustatory secretion (excitator). During the advances this organ is offered to the female to bite. When the organ is bitten into, all the taste receptors of the female come into contact with the secretion. When the female has tasted the secretion several times her original aversion to mating is reduced. Pairing advances alternate continually between frontal stimulation by each partner tapping the other with feelers and front legs (frontal play), the male turning round 180° and then the female biting into the organ. At an advanced stage of pairing the female turns her hind side towards the partner and the male touches the tip of the female's abdomen with his mouth organs. The female answers this tentative touching by returning to frontal play, or she permits copulation which is only of short duration.