Have you ever seen a praying mantis's courtship ritual? The male mantis stretched out his wings, shook his head, and tried his best to show his love to his sweetheart. Who knows, but everyone knowsThis courtship turned out to be the "death sentence" of the male mantis.
Just when the male mantis was preoccupied with chasing his lover, the female mantis coldly bit off his head. Why is the female praying mantis so ruthless? That's the story I'm going to tell you today. Please sit tight and hold on, we might as well take a look at this bizarre "insect farce"...
Praying mantis is a typical "sexual eater" insect, and the female mantis will eat the male mantis after mating. What does this mean? To this end, in the 80s of the 20th century, two scientists conducted experimental research on this.
They first captured 30 pairs of wild praying mantisesAfter feeding the female mantis, she mates with the male mantis, and it is found that the female mantis does not harm the male mantis. After that, they conducted two more experiments, one group had the female mantis fast for a few days beforehand, and the hungry female mantis immediately ate the male mantis when she saw it, and had no intention of mating at all, and the other group left the female mantis in a semi-starved state, and there was a situation where the male mantis was eaten after mating.
Through experiments, scientists concluded that whether or not a female mantis "sex-eaters of its own kind" depends on how hungry they are at the time of mating. If the stomach is full, the female mantis will not harm the male mantis. But in nature,Female praying mantis is semi-starved most of the time, so it is very common for wild female praying mantis to eat their "husband".
Later, some scientists proposed that the male mantis contained some kind of substance that promotes the laying of eggs by the female mantis, but this claim has not been confirmed. In fact,The female praying mantis "eats its own kind" is purely a hunger-driven behavior. So why doesn't the male mantis resist or run away? This needs to be further studied.
For the habit of the female praying mantis "eating the same kind".Humanity has always been interested. As early as ancient times, many literati and scholars described this phenomenon in their writings. For example, Su Shi, a lyricist of the Song Dynasty, wrote in "Former Chibi Fu": "The praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind", which means that the praying mantis is preying on the cicada, and the yellow finch follows behind, waiting for the praying mantis to eat enough, and then eats the praying mantis. This also seems to be a metaphor for the habit of female praying mantis to eat male mantis after mating.
In modern literature, the habit of the female praying mantis to "eat her own kind" is also often mentioned. Taiwanese writer Bai Hsien-yong's short story ** "Mother's Flower Season".By describing a mother's restraint and control over her son after the death of her husband, it alludes to the relationship between the female mantis and the male praying mantis. In the masterpiece "Kinkakuji" by Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, the habit of the female praying mantis to eat the male praying mantis is also used to symbolize the violent and self-destructive tendencies in human nature.
In movies and TV series, descriptions of female praying mantis "eating the same kind" are also common. For example, in the documentary "Life Big**" produced by the BBC, there is an episode dedicated to why the female praying mantis eats the male praying mantis. In the third season of the American suspense drama "CSI Crime Scene", there is also a plot with the theme of praying mantis. The appearance of all these works reflects the curiosity and desire of human beings for this natural phenomenon.
Contemporary scientific research has found that the main cause of the female mantis's "sexual cannibalism" is hunger, but we still have many questions. Why don't male praying mantis run away or resist?
Praying mantis, as an ancient carnivorous insect, has a close relationship between their feeding habits and courtship habits.
Regarding feeding habits, scientists have found through experiments that when female mantis is hungry, they will ignore courtship and eat the male mantis they encounter as food. This is because not eating for a long time causes the female mantis to need a lot of food to survive. In contrast, a well-fed female mantis waits for mating to be complete before eating the male. This suggests that female praying mantis eats male mantis primarily to fill their stomachs, rather than a fixed reproductive behavior.
In the wild, there are also differences in the feeding habits of male and female praying mantises. Male praying mantis often wanders around foraging for food, and stops hunting when they are full. This may be to conserve stamina and find female praying mantis for mating more quickly. Female praying mantises, on the other hand, eat almost everything, and they need a lot of food to give birth to their offspring. So during the breeding season, the female mantis will cruelly eat the male mantisEven before mating begins, it is treated as food.
When it comes to courtship habits, male praying mantis is very proactive. They will risk their lives to approach female praying mantises, using a variety of tactics to increase their chances of success. For example, go around the back of the female mantis and climb up quickly, avoid the forelimbs of the female mantis, or mate quickly while the female mantis is eating. The reason for the formation of this habit,On the one hand, the male mantis does not understand the eating habits of the female mantis, and on the other hand, it is driven by the innate mating instinct to complete mating even if he knows that his life is in danger.
It can be seen,There were obvious differences in feeding and courtship habits between male and female praying mantises. This is a biological manifestation of the difference between the sexes. Female praying mantis treats mating partners as food**, while male mantis dedicates themselves to ensuring the survival of their offspring. This habit is very important for the continuation of the praying mantis species.
In addition, it is also worth paying attention to the relevant information about the distribution and species of praying mantises. At present, there are about 2,000 species of praying mantis in the world, mainly distributed in tropical, ** and temperate regions. There are more than 140 species known in China. They have been on Earth since 400 million years ago and are very old insect groups that look almost exactly like fossils of the time, proving the success and adaptability of this predatory insect.
Praying mantis is known for its ferocityBrutal life-and-death battles often take place between them. When a pair of praying mantis finishes mating, the female mantis tends to eat the male mantis directly. This phenomenon has many people wondering: what is the motive of the female praying mantis to eat her mate? Is it good for its offspring? Is the male praying mantis willing to be eaten again?
In the 80s of the 20th century, American scientists began to study this. They designed multiple sets of experiments to investigate why female mantis ate male mantises. It was found that when the female mantis is extremely hungry, it has no intention of mating at all, and wants to eat the male mantis as soon as it sees it, and if the female mantis is slightly hungry, it will mate with the male mantis, but after it is over, it will eat the male mantis, and if the female mantis is full, it will not eat the male mantis even if it completes mating.
This shows that the motive of the female praying mantis to eat the male mantis is purely to fill the stomach. In fact, eating the male mantis is beneficial to the reproduction of the female mantisIt can increase the number of offspring by about 20%. But the male praying mantis is clearly not willing to be eaten.
So, why does a female praying mantis eat her mate? This seems to be related to the living environment and feeding habits of the praying mantis.
First of all,Wild praying mantis is often threatened by predators, and they must be on high alert at all times in order to escape danger. This vigilance drives the female mantis to take the opportunity to eat the male mantis for food.
Secondly, praying mantis is a carnivorous insect that can prey on a variety of small creatures, including its own kind. Male mantis is smaller than female mantis and is easy to target for the latter.
In addition, after mating, the male mantis has lost its usefulness, and the female mantis can save time and energy to forage for other insects by eating the male mantis.
Finally, wild animals have limited compassion for their own kind. The male mantis is not a relative of the female mantis, but only a temporary companion. It is also not uncommon for female praying mantis to eat male mantis in nature.
Of course, we should not impose the morality of human society on animals. It is purely instinctive for the female praying mantis to eat the male praying mantis, and it does not have the consciousness of "evil". This phenomenon reflects the cruelty and ruthlessness of the natural world.
Praying mantis' feeding and courtship habits are an important part of their survival strategy. This distinction between the sexes is of great significance for the survival and continuation of the mantis species. Humans should actively learn and protect these ancient and intelligent little creatures.
In summary, there are many reasons why the female mantis eats the male mantis, but the core lies in the survival instinct of predation, rather than to obtain nutrients in the body of the male mantis. Although this behavior is beneficial to the reproduction of the female praying mantis, it also causes the male mantis to suffer a lot. It reflects the cruel competition hidden in the praying mantis world, and is a true portrayal of natural evolution, which is worth pondering.