When a female "burying beetle" is focused on caring for babies and not making new ones, she releases a chemical signal to her libidinous mate that says in no uncertain terms: "Honey, I'm not in the mood."Scientists described how these females employ an anti-aphrodisiac chemical known as a pheromone during a three-day period critical for raising offspring to tell the male she is temporarily infertile and prevent him from trying to copulate.The study focused on a beetle species, Nicrophorus vespilloides, known for burying carcasses of small animals like rodents as food for their larvae. It provides insight into how animals change their behaviour to provide care for their young, in this instance favouring parenting over sexual activity to produce new offspring."Our study helps to understand animal family life and how it is co-ordinated between family members," said biologist Sandra Steiger, who led the study published in the journal Nature Communications."It is intriguing that such mechanisms exist in animals and that animal parents synchronise their mating and parental-care behaviour for their own benefit and that of the children," Steiger added.Burying beetles are found mainly in temperate regions of Europe, Asia and North America...