The coconut crab (Birgus latro) reaches sexual maturity around the age of 5. It mates exclusively on land, usually in summer and in the forest between two moults. The male externally fertilizes the oocytes ejected by the female by depositing its spermatophore on the female's genital orifices. The female then carries some 50,000 fertilized eggs under her abdomen for about 1 month before releasing them into the sea at high tide by being swept away by the waves.