The spines on the hemipenes serve two purposes. First, they anchor the male firmly to the female, as snakes have no limbs to hold onto each other. Second, in many species, the barbs are thought to stimulate the female to release eggs from her ovaries and to discourage her from mating with another male immediately after.
Let’s pull back the curtain on this secretive process. how to snakes mate
The process begins with . When a female is ready to breed, she releases pheromones from skin glands on her back. The spines on the hemipenes serve two purposes