# Dead leaf mantis eats her mate.



## more_rayne (Dec 11, 2010)

Here's my female D. lobata eating the male. Mating was unsuccessful.


----------



## sporeworld (Dec 11, 2010)

Dude! I can almost HEAR the crunches!

(What lens are you using...?)


----------



## kitkat39 (Dec 11, 2010)

Man that hurts just watching it! But something I saw a whole lot of...


----------



## LauraMG (Dec 12, 2010)

Very nice Larry! Poor guy didn't have a chance


----------



## Ricardo (Dec 12, 2010)

can't you separate them before she does any damage? or did she do this when you weren't looking?


----------



## more_rayne (Dec 12, 2010)

Ricardo said:


> can't you separate them before she does any damage? or did she do this when you weren't looking?


She did it when I was looking. I tried to separate them, but the strike was fatal, so I just let her eat him.


----------



## Precarious (Dec 13, 2010)

Ouch! I hate when that happens. :mellow:


----------



## Ricardo (Dec 24, 2010)

the strike was fatal? Isn't it just an arm lock? does the scythe actually penetrate ?


----------



## more_rayne (Dec 24, 2010)

Check out the first photo, the female is several times the size of the male. The male is thin and scrawny, he'd only be a light snack for her.


----------



## yen_saw (Dec 25, 2010)

Awww bummer! She thinks the male is tastier than cricket :blink: It happens a lot to D. lobata too, female could be fed to the point where she is going to burst but still find a way to store a male in her stomach :angry:


----------

