Praying Mantises and Sexual Cannibalization

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Praying mantises and sexual cannibalization-an introduction
Sexual cannibalism is a word that is uncommon to many of us humans. From many of our observations, most living organisms show love to their significant other and thus speaking about cannibalism in a relationship sounds weird, doesn’t it? Some researchers have asserted that sexual cannibalism is a strategy that some organisms use as an adaptive foraging strategy, in which females get the necessary nutrients to enhance their future fecundity (Barry et al., 713). In most of the animals that exhibit this interesting behavior, males are significantly smaller than the females. Critics of this perspective have based their argument on the notion that the males’ sizes of these species too small to provide any meaningful amount of nutrients to their females. How about we consider the case of the praying mantis, in which males are large and can offer the necessary nutrients?
While the main reason for engaging in such behavior remains a mystery, scientists have associated it with the need to boost the productivity of the female. According to Davis (2016), scientists noted that a species of females who eat males after sex produce a higher number of eggs compared to those who do not. It is unimaginable that whenever one you wish to engage in a moment of passion with your partner, you are signing a death warrant. You are almost sure that you will no longer be alive the moment you allow your feelings to overrule you. Among the species of female praying mantis known to exhibit cannibalism, the researchers estimate that up to 28% of the males are eaten by their partners. This means that slightly above a quarter of all the males get eaten the moment they engage in any sexual activity.
However, there are also cases where males attack the females. In such a case, scientists state that the action is meant to encourage the females to mate. This reversal of events presents an interesting aspect of nature. It is fascinating that an animal of a given species will decide to cannibalize its own kind only during the mating process. Unfortunately, the explanations that scientists have provided about cases where males cannibalize on females are not convincing enough. Our suggestion is that the pheromone that these organisms produce to attract the other member could also be triggering the cannibalistic behavior regardless of the gender.
While the claims of attack are rampant, researchers have noted that it mainly affects a small portion of the males because in some cases, the males are able to contain the females and prevent them from cannibalizing on them. These findings show that the behavior is rampant in most cases and that only 28% of the males get eaten because of their inability to defend themselves. Therefore, when a male decides to engage in passion, they should ensure that they are stronger than their partners to increase their survival chances. Otherwise, a mistake of approaching a bigger partner guarantees that you will become a meal.
According to scientists, female praying mantis who successfully consume their mates after sex produce a larger number of eggs compared to those who do not. Consuming the entire body of a male partner guarantees the female more nutrients than the nutrients they would get through the normal mating procedure. The nutrients from the male body revitalizes the female by restoring her energy, which is then evident through the increased number of eggs that she lays.
After the mating process, the female stores the male’s sperms, which it later uses to fertilize the eggs that she lays. An interesting observation is that in one out of 45 cases, the female removed the head of the male before mating. Even after removing the head, the males still finished the mating process. On...