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There is a peculiar phenomenon in nature called "sexual cannibalism", in which the female eats the male during the mating process of the species. The more typical is the praying mantis, in fact, it is not only the praying mantis, but also the scorpion under the arachnida, and the black widow population will also appear this phenomenon.
The various behaviors of species in nature are the result of continuous evolution and genetic selection. So what is the significance of a female eating a male she mates with in a competition for survival, and why doesn't a male mantis choose to run away when eaten?
Characteristics of the praying mantis
Praying mantis belongs to the order of insects, with a body length of between 3 and 9 centimeters, two knife-like forelimbs at the tip, a row of serrated teeth on the forelimbs, and a small hook at the end, which is used to catch prey.
The praying mantis is very widely distributed across the globe and has praying mantis living in all regions except the polar regions. There are currently 2,400 species of praying mantis in the world, and more than 140 species are distributed in China. Praying mantis is a solitary insect that rejects other members of its species, which helps them to reduce fighting and hostility during breeding.
The life of a praying mantis goes through 3 stages, which are egg, nymph, and adult forms. The mating time varies depending on the species and climate, but in general, the praying mantis living in China will mate in July and August every year.
After fertilization, the female praying mantis lays her eggs in the crevices of the bark or on the surface of the branches. When laying eggs, the female mantis first expels a foamy substance from her abdomen and then lays eggs on it. The foamy substance quickly hardens, forming an "egg sheath" to protect the laid eggs.
Female praying mantis can lay dozens to hundreds of eggs at a time, and the eggs will start to hatch in the summer of the following year, and the incubation cycle is usually 20-30 days, the higher the temperature, the faster the hatching speed. When the larvae emerge from their eggs, they take on the form of a praying mantis, but they are very small.
It usually takes two months for a praying mantis to hatch into an adult, during which it undergoes about 7-10 molts, each time the molt becomes a little larger and finally transforms into an adult form.
7-14 days after entering the adult stage, the mantis reaches the stage of sexual maturity, during which the female mantis will emit specific pheromones to find mates to reproduce.
Cruel reproduction
For male mantises, mating can be eaten by the female mantis and lose her life. But not all praying mantis will "kill their husbands", there are two main types of praying mantis that like to "kill their husbands", the Chinese giant knife mantis and the European thin-winged mantis. The probability of eating a mate during mating is 17% and 31% respectively, respectively, for the rest of the species.
Female praying mantis usually starts eating from the head of the mate, which is the hunting Xi of the praying mantis, when hunting, the mantis will first solve the head of the prey.
When the head of the male mantis is bitten off, the mating is not over. At this time, the movements of the male mantis will become more intense, perhaps this will help the fertilization to be completed. The nerves that control the mantis's copulous movements are concentrated in the abdomen, which is why the praying mantis can still move even after it has no head.
Despite losing their lives, male mantis will be very submissive during mating. Is the magic of genes so powerful? can drive individuals to give up their lives in order to reproduce, why don't male mantis choose to flee?
In fact, it's not that the male mantis doesn't want to escape, but it's difficult to escape. There is a clear difference in body size between males and females, with females being much larger than males. The female mantis is twice as large as the male mantis, and the female mantis is 1.2 times larger than the male mantis.
Whether it is combat effectiveness or speed of action, male mantis is far from catching up with female mantises. It usually takes 2-5 hours for a praying mantis to mate, during which both parties are unable to eat, and mating is a very physically demanding action.
Once mating begins, it is difficult for the smaller male mantis to escape under the female mantis's sharp blade. However, there are also a small number of male mantis that are not eaten after mating.
In some cases, the male mantis chooses to resist during mating and successfully escapes, while others are the female mantis who completes the entire mating process and finally chooses to let the male mantis go.
The reason for "killing the husband".
The reason why praying mantis chooses to eat mates when mating is simple, just to fill their stomachs, not an act that is engraved in their genes.
In 1984, in order to find out the reason why praying mantis eats the same kind of sex, scientists used thin-winged mantis to do three groups of controlled experiments.
In the first set of experiments, the scientists placed a male praying mantis and an extremely hungry female praying mantis in a container. After the male mantis saw the female mantis, he made a courtship move, but the female mantis ignored it at all, rushed up and bit the male mantis, and finally ate it little by little.
In the second group of experiments, two praying mantises, one male and one female, were also placed in the container, the difference was that this time the female mantis was fed part of the food in advance, so that it was "half full".
After the female mantis saw the male mantis, she accepted the male mantis's "show of love" and mated with him for 2 hours. Just as the mating was about to end, the female mantis suddenly stretched out her blade to the male mantis, killing and eating him.
In the third group of experiments, the container was prepared with sufficient food, and the female mantis was fed a large amount of food before being placed in the container, and was in a state of complete satiety. This time, the female and male mantis completed the entire mating process, and after the end, the female mantis did not attack, but enjoyed the rest of the food with the male mantis.
Three sets of experiments proved that the female mantis ate the male mantis solely for food, and did not consciously replenish nutrients for the breeding offspring.
end
The competition for survival in nature is cruel, animals are often hungry and full, and hungry female mantis meets male mantis courtship, and naturally will not let go of the food sent to them. The harsher the environment, the more brutal the female mantis becomes, and sometimes the female mantis will use other female mantis as food.
Male and female praying mantis mating together is only driven by genetic instinct to reproduce, not an emotional "mate" relationship, and the survival rules of animals in nature must not be judged by human moral concepts.
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