Male tried to eat female...yes, you read that correctly

[Pizzaparlor45]

For the first time in the several years (off and on) that I have raised praying mantids, today I attempted to mate them. The species is Rhombodera Basalis. I know they are an aggressive species, but perhaps I underestimated how aggressive. I had heard a lot about how the female sometimes tries to eat the male, so I took preventative measures. 

I fed both the male and the female before trying to mate them, and I had my female chowing down on a waxworm while I introduced the male into the enclosure. I saw that the male appeared interested and he looked at the female while slowly approaching her. I thought he was going to try and mate, but instead he lunged at the unaware female and grabbed her abdomen.

The two fell off the perch I had them on as they became a tumbled mass of wings and legs. I immediately began them apart with my 12'' pare of tweezers and my fingers, but I saw that the male had a strong grip on the female and would have killed her had I not done something to prevent it. Eventually, I got them apart, and the female, understandably, seemed shaken after that. 

Losing the female would have been devastating. I have three males and only one female. 

Has anyone here encountered this uncharacteristic act of stupidity on the male`s part? I can not find anything online about a male, of any species, eating a female. 

 

[MantisGirl13]

I once lost my favorite female ghost to a male during mating. I left for a few hours,  came back, and he had eaten most of her head and thorax.

- MantisGirl13 

 

[Mystymantis]

Yes I have had a male Chinese try and attack a female before. Luckily I got them apart but the male was literally chomping down on the female with his claws jabbing into her abdomen. I was quite surprised that the male was doing that! I think it was a particularly feisty male.

And I think I had a male Carolina mantis attack a female in a similar way. He latched onto her abdomen and caused a big gash in her making her lose hemolymph (insect blood). I was not happy about that. Not sure why this happens.

 

[hysteresis]

I've not had this myself, but, males can also do unintentional damage to a female during copulation.

Injuries range from nipping at the pronotum, to puncturing the abdomen while mounted, to internal damage while connected.

When a male is mounted and connected, the instinct is to hunker down, grab on tighter, curl abdomen harder, if jostled or frightened.

But an outright aggressive attack? Haven't seen it.

I did have a Pseudovates chlorophaea male that, upon introduction to the female, waltzed right over and stole her feeder right out from her rap.