The Praying mantis
has always been popularly known by the cannibalistic act of the lovely lady
eating the head of her hopeful prince in waiting. Unfortunately it’s still
unclear after several research cases as to exactly why she tends to feast upon
the head of her mate.
Lucky for the male mantis, engaging in copulation with the
female does not mean that this will be his final act in life. The female mantis
won’t always devour the male, so he does have a chance of escaping if he can
execute his mantis ninja skills to escape the wrath of the hungry female.
The male mantis would display that he has recognized the
female visually and he then proceeds to try and court her through concealment
rather than a front on approach through display. He would attempt to execute a
very stealthy approach, sneaking around behind her and freezing whenever she
would look towards him. Providing he was able to get into position a few inches
away from her, he would leap on to her back and copulation will begin. It’s
until this point that it appears as if the females take no part in the
courtship.
The other outcome is not a bliss for the male. If he is
spotted by the female she will prey on him like the opportunistic hunter she
is, seeing him as a prey organism. The concealment approach doesn't always work
and generally the male will only be attacked if he approaches her front on.
When she attacks him, she reaches out and grasps the font of his body and
begins to eat him. Chances of escape for the males are minimal and it’s not
until a specific nerve cord is severed that his body will begin to undergo
strong circling movements to bring his body in line with hers and begin
copulation.
In the end the male’s body may eventually be completely
consumed, but a successful copulation had occurred. Perhaps for the male
mantis, being cannibalised may not be a bad way to go. He may die happily in
bliss, or in excruciating pain from being eaten alive. As for the female, she
gets a delicious meal from it, who could complain!
Female mantis preying on a male
Oliver Koemmerling
Orchid Mantis
Anonymous
Reference
Loxton, R.G. 1979, "On display behaviour and courtship in the praying mantis Ephestiasula amoena (Bolivar)", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 103-110.
Wow that is messed up! :P Do you know of many other animals that eat their mates after copulation? I can think of the black widow spider. Are there many others? I'm quite interested to know if there are any mammalian examples of this behaviour also :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Kung Fu panda suggestion! Are males more often cannibalised than not? Do males attempt to escape when females have caught hold of them? This is a very interesting system and it’s great to see the light side of the story!
ReplyDeleteI had NO idea that it was possible for male caught up front, and in the process of being eaten, to still then align themselves and copulate mid-death. I can't even imagine how that one nerve chord would have come about to trigger that. Really interesting!
ReplyDeleteThere are a few animals that do eat their mates after copulation. This is mostly in the insect and arachnid world though. Some species of scorpion and crustaceans partake in it too occasionally.
ReplyDeleteThe cannibalistic eating of the male is said that the praying mantises reared in the lab
often do eat the males however the ones in the wild are observed to not partake in the act as frequently. As for the male escaping, he would try to escape if caught however the chances are that once he has been caught, its game over. :P