Do females really kill the males in mating?

[Psychobunny]

I have read so many times that the females always bites the head off the male for succesfull

mating, in fact, that mating would not happen without doing this and the ganglia for mating

on the male is in the abdomine and it can mount and mate sans its head no problem.

Also, the female is said to devour her mate in order to provide nutrients for her young!!

How much of this is true?

This does not strike me as very Darwinian

Why would the male want to mate in the first place if he knew it meant his death?

How does his sacrafice benifit the species?

 

[hibiscusmile]

They do in some instances, not always. The male mates because it is his identity or his purpose in life. His job, his thing.... u know, what he was ment to do. They are of course cautious, but when theirs a job to do, most males lose their heads anyways, so why not go for it? :tt2:

 

[lancaster1313]

I have only had a couple of males be eaten, and it was when they spent too much time riding and didn't connect immediately.

I have noticed that the last "rider" rode without connecting for a few days, a couple times. I walked in to the room to notice that the female had eaten half his head, but he was trying real hard to connect half headless, when all he did was ride when his head was intact. :mellow: I thought that was kind of strange.

 

[tina1]

I have had 2 males eaten to date (not bad considering the amount i have bred over the last couple of years). It was my fault both times, as i thought i would try and give the males one last push at breeding, and they had gone well over the ideal breeding time, and both were at the geriatric stage of life nline2long:

I just think its down to how many hiding places you have for the male to hide in once finished.

 

[Psychobunny]

To me, it doesnt make sence.

Most mantids are female. It would make more sence for the male to mate, then go on

to the next female, etc. to propagate the species.

Also, consider that fact that most mantids do not reach adult in the wild, and you have to wonder

how these creatures have survived so well!!

If a male dies after only one mating, and females greatly outnumber males, it's no wonder males

are so rare!! LOL!!

 

[hibiscusmile]

Well I don't think that many die in mating. Outside where they belong, they can easily fly away, Also consider the number that hatch and live, there are plenty out there and most males do spend a day resting and then move on to another female, they dont mate just once.

 

[massaman]

i dont actually believe in anything darwain says the spider does the same thing as the mantis as the females do eat the males when the males fail to escape and have had it happen on many occasions but have had the male survive on other occasions as well so it depends on the situation and the mantis is prob one of the few intelligent insects by design in my opinion!

 

[Psychobunny]

i dont actually believe in anything darwain says the spider does the same thing as the mantis as the females do eat the males when the males fail to escape and have had it happen on many occasions but have had the male survive on other occasions as well so it depends on the situation and the mantis is prob one of the few intelligent insects by design in my opinion!

I agree, and we all know there are tons of crazy myths about spiders too!

It's nice to know that the male does not HAVE to die for a succesful mating

 

[meaganelise9]

Keep in mind this isn't an uncommon thing for insects. The female wants to ensure that she has enough sustenance to have a good successful ooth because, in the wild, they never know when food will come along next. Of course, in captivity, we know they'll get fed very soon, but she doesn't necessarily know.

Many insects will do similar things. Some insect mothers sacrifice themselves as food for the young. Some lay a large amount of eggs to ensure that some (not all) will have food around to survive.

 

[Termite48]

If a breeder (hobbiest) knows ahead of time that the male is at risk, it behooves one to provide nutrients before the breeding and even during the mating. Many enourage distraction during the mating so that the female has her mouth and raptorials occupied. Many times the killiing of the male occurs when he should not be on her back anyway. It is because many of the males like to ride. If the male makes his head available for the females eve the head full nelson maneuver, he is dead meat. It is better, almost in all cases with an aggressive female, to remove the male once he has done his thing. There is no real advantage to having him mounted for hours or overnight without supervision. How many of us want to stay up at night watching for the male to voluntarily let go of his mate. Try mating a few couples of a "not too rare" species as in Creobroter pictipennis and you will get the nack for preserving the life of the male. be aware also that many males will loose their lives in a communal cage or even in one species cage when he is not mating. The aggressive behavior are usually females in certain species as in the aforementioned Creobroter, They will sometimes pick off a non-suspecting male out of the clear blue with many BB available.

 

[Ntsees]

In the wild, males tend to survive mating than getting eaten afterward. Basically, don't get the impression that 100% of the time, the males are going to get eaten when they mate with a female. With my experience in Iris oratoria, the male has over 95% chance of surviving after he mates (I'm only talking about the wild ones). Take note that this is only my observation for this species only.

 

[patrickfraser]

It's an old wive's tale based on truth. :blink: It's what everyone has heard as cold, hard fact. It is a question I'm ALWAYS asked when talking about my mantids. When I say it is rare, they are taken aback. It is nice to be able to provide some actual, experiential truths to the people who are "not wrong", but just "misinformed". :lol:

 

[Rick]

Mantids are opportunistic feeders. If an easy meal presents itself they will take advantage. So to answer your question, no, mantids don't always eat the males and eating the male is not necessary for the mating to be successful. In captivity it happens more often because mantids are confined.

 

[MantidLord]

I've never had a male eaten DURING mating. Never, even while riding on the back of a female for hours. I have, however, had males grabbed by females and then starting mating while they are being eaten. And I'm talking about multiple species that I've seen this. Now I kind of what to see a female just get tired and reach back and yank a male :shifty: . But so far, no such luck. I guess I shouldn't complain. B)

 

[kmsgameboy]

It does happen but more often than not the male gets away. Thankfully I have never lost a male. There are all kinds of crazy myths out there and it suprises me how much people will argue with you because they believe they are true. I have heard everything from "mantis bites are poisonous" to "the female MUST bite the males head off in order to lay eggs inside for reproduction". I get a good chuckle from it sometimes.

 

[massaman]

I have had some get eaten and others escape from mating but it is just a game of chance really but one way to lower the odds of losing a male is to keep the female fed as much as possible in all aspects of mating and what not so she may be declined not to eat the male but its never a given!

 

[crucis]

I really think the species has alot to do with it. From info gathered online / stuff I've experienced personally, some species are far less risky to mate than others. In one of my Odontomantis pairings, the male began to lean dangerously forward long after disconnecting (actually the fool was kissing the top of her head). Instead of seizing him, the female used her coxa to elbow him backward - and she had only been lightly-fed that day

I guess one of the biggest risks in captivity is that of the female stalking and grabbing the male after he has already dismounted. Especially because many of us can't stick around to supervise.

On being Darwinian.. Maybe the more aggressive species tend to have populations that are more widely dispersed? Since chances aren't good that the male would live long enough to find another female, why not eat him and secure a surfeit of nourishment for the developing eggs..