What does a female praying mantis do after mating. Special rituals that mantises observe: mating on the verge of life and death. How praying mantises mate

Incredible Facts

Birth and death are a natural part of the life cycle, but some animals only reproduce once and leave this world. This phenomenon is known as semelparia.

It may sound crazy, but suicidal mating is quite common in some animals.

Sometimes the act of mating takes the life of an animal in the process or immediately after it. Such an act can last from several hours to a whole day.

Animal mating

1 Praying Mantises Bite Their Heads After Mating

As you know, female praying mantises swallow the male's head during or after mating. However, not all females do this. In an experiment on 40 pairs of praying mantises, only one pair performed this ritual. The male can avoid the sad fate only by chance.

Sometimes the female praying mantis completely devours the male. Often they will bite off the male's head and then mate with the headless body. Although the act results in the death of the male, it provides the female with a greater chance of fertilization.

2. Chameleons of Madagascar live and die quickly after mating

Chameleons of the Furcifer labordi species, living in the dry forests of Madagascar, live only a year. They spend almost 8 months inside the egg, and after they hatch, they live 4-5 months, lay eggs and die immediately after the act of reproduction.

Males and females fight each other, and if this does not lead to death, aggression leads to the production of high levels of hormones, which kills them.

3. Northern marsupial martens live fiercely and die after mating

Northern marsupial martens have a relatively short life span of only 12 months as they mate to death. During the breeding season, the male travels far in search of a female. When they finally mate, they do so with as many females as possible in order to spread their genes.

The male is also very aggressive during breeding, scratching, biting and occasionally killing the female. Even if the male survives after a full day of mating, he can live from a few days to a week after that.

4 Elephant Seals Violently Compete And Crush The Female

Elephant seals are on the verge of extinction. These marine mammals migrate to the beach and breed in the winter. Males begin to fight for the best and largest territories, trying to suppress the weakest.

The ratio of males to females is usually 1 to 10, and dozens of females mate with the alpha male and give birth to offspring. Sometimes, when the male is enraged, he may bite the female and crush her to death. Low-flying planes can frighten the colony, and frightened animals run to the water, crushing the young.

animal breeding

5. Bees climax with an explosion

The mating ritual of bees is quite interesting and shocking. After the colony is formed, the worker bees select the queen bee and defend it from rivals. As soon as the queen bee reaches maturity, she selects dozens of males from several thousand in the colony. But the selected males can hardly be called lucky, because during mating, the genitals of the drone explode, and he dies. The genitalia remain inside the queen bee and fertilize it.

After this ritual, the queen can lay up to 1500 eggs per day for 3 years.

6 Violent Mating Is Common In Squids

When the breeding season begins, males and females gather in one place. species squid Taningia danae they pierce the females with sharp hooks, and then put the seed appendages into the holes formed, fertilizing it.

Another kind of squid Onykia ingens releases sperm with tissue-dissolving enzymes through the skin of the female. Once a female is fertilized, she is capable of producing thousands of eggs at once. Baby squid begin to swim from birth and are able to protect themselves. At the same time, adults do not live long and usually die after breeding.

Source 7The male slender Brazilian opossum dies after mating, and the female after giving birth

Mating is an important part of human and animal life, but few of them want to pass on their genes so badly that they practically die of starvation. A newly discovered species of opossum mates for 14 hours with as many females as possible.

During the breeding season, the male produces so much stress hormone in his body that his body practically shuts down. The male grabs any females that come across and mates until he dies.

8. Fence iguanas do not live long and die immediately after mating

Fence iguanas have a relatively short life span and reach maturity within 5 months of birth. After reaching maturity, they mate only once in their lifetime. After that, females live for about 2-3 months and die from natural causes. Males can outlive females by 7-8 months.

9. Bed bugs practice traumatic insemination.

In nature, mating is not always a pleasant and exciting process. Bed bugs are a great example of this, as they practice what is known as traumatic insemination.

The praying mantis is an insect whose body shape and customs are very unusual. In its appearance, it resembles a praying person, thanks to which in Greece it received the name "priest", but such an appearance could not hide the cruel disposition of this insect. The female praying mantis is the most famous example of cannibalism among animals due to the habit of biting off the head of a partner during mating. She can do this both during and after.

According to most zoologists, this behavior is largely due to the fact that females in this way not only supply their body with a sufficient amount of proteins they require during pregnancy, but sometimes even deliberately provoke the release of semen by decapitating a partner.

Appearance

An adult female praying mantis is a rather elegant insect. In her appearance, the elongated gas wings of a light green hue and a thin waist stand out most of all. The head of the praying mantis ends with a pointed "beak", and due to its movable neck, it can rotate its head in any direction. In addition, this is the only insect that consciously directs its gaze when examining the surroundings.

Mantis weapon

Despite the rather peaceful body composition, its front legs have deadly power. Their main purpose is to create a kind of trap for the intended victims. On their inner side, in close proximity to the body, there are beautiful black spots, each of which is decorated with a white eye inside and several rows of small ivory spots that complement the decoration.

The femur is quite long and resembles a spindle in its appearance, the entire front part of which is equipped with a double row of sharp spikes. The longer spikes are black and the shorter spikes are green, resulting in the mantis thigh looking very similar to a saw blade.

The lower leg at the junction with the thigh is quite mobile. It also has spikes, although smaller, but rather densely spaced. At its end is a powerful needle-shaped hook, on the lower part of which there is a groove with several curved blades.

When the female praying mantis is in a calm state, all the elements of her legs are bent in such a way that she takes on a very harmless appearance, however, as soon as suitable prey appears nearby, her legs straighten forward and she clings to her prey, pulling it to herself. As a result of such a maneuver, the insect falls between four paws topped with rows of spikes. No matter how much the insect resists after that, falling into such a trap, it is doomed to death.

Features of hunting and nutrition

The female praying mantis spreads its wings to full width during the hunt. The end of the abdomen rises and falls with rather sharp movements. Her body at this time rests on four hind legs, as a result of which the insect holds its entire long chest almost in a vertical state. The front legs are extended to their full length, exposing the armpits.

In a similar position, she motionlessly watches the approaching food, turning her head when it changes place. After the insect is captured, the female folds her wings, assumes her usual position and starts eating.

Start of mating season

After the onset of heat, all praying mantises lead a peaceful lifestyle, during which the females do not quarrel with each other, but this does not last long. The closer the mating period gets, the more aggressive they become. The increased work of the ovaries causes the females to lay eggs, instilling in them a strange desire to eat each other.

If the fight should end only in scratches, then the front legs remain folded. At the first injury, one of the combatants admits defeat and leaves. However, quite often the denouement takes an extremely negative turn, as a result of which the rivals use their grasping legs during the fight. The winner devours the victim, starting from the back of the head.

After mating, female praying mantises again return to a calm state, in which they remain throughout the year until the onset of cold weather.

Pair formation

In late August - early September, the male praying mantis, quite small and miserable compared to the female, waits for a favorable moment, periodically turning his neck towards his partner and sticking out his chest. He approaches her and opens his quivering wings. After his courtship is accepted, the couple breaks up for a while, but within the next day, the male is attacked by his girlfriend. The female praying mantis eats the male after mating, paralyzing him with a bite to the back of the head, and eats him in small pieces up to the wings.

reproduction

During breeding, the male is located on the back of the female, holding tightly to her with all his paws. Sometimes the female bites off the male's head without even waiting for the completion of sexual intercourse. The female praying mantis at this moment turns her head over her shoulder and begins to methodically devour her partner while the remaining part of his body does not stop fulfilling its natural purpose. The male has no chance of salvation, as he is firmly restrained by the pinches with which he was originally attached to the body of the female.

In addition, in some cases, the female praying mantis eats the male after mating, and the eating of males is observed in almost all members of the praying mantis family. Even the female of the tiny colorless praying mantis proceeds to eat the male with the same spontaneity as the female of the common praying mantis.

Reasons for aggressive behavior

Scientists have not come to a consensus on why the female praying mantis eats the male after mating, but they put forward several basic hypotheses of what is happening. The first and most common of them is that in this way they seek to make up for the lack of natural protein they need to fully bear offspring. The second version is that the females thus stimulate the production of the seed in the partner.

It has long been believed that the female praying mantis eats her unlucky opponent for a reason. And how could it be otherwise? The female praying mantis is much larger and more aggressive than the male, and not without obvious pleasure, this fatal lady bites off the male's head at the time of mating.

Is this true? Let's figure it out.

First, let's look at what a praying mantis is. This thin, clumsy creature with a long body and paws can sit for hours without moving, until some careless midge falls into its field of vision.

The praying mantis is a predatory insect about 5 cm in size. Both pairs of wings are well developed, although he rarely uses them. In case of danger, the praying mantis spreads its bright wings like a peephole, like a butterfly, and assumes a threatening pose. In their appearance, they accurately imitate long green leaves, although in nature there are praying mantises not only green, but also yellow, brown and brown tones. More than 2000 species of praying mantis are known, which mainly live in the tropics and subtropics.

It is generally accepted that the praying mantis hides in the grass, but it can be found anywhere. There are praying mantises that live on trees and look no different from thin tree branches, there are insects that sit on flowers and look like outlandish creatures. The latter include the Indian flower mantis, which looks more like a butterfly with green and pink-brown wings, and the orchid mantis, which closely mimics an orchid flower.

If an ordinary praying mantis destroys harmful insects, flies, beetles and mosquitoes, then flower praying mantises are real pests. They hunt for bees, bumblebees and other small insects that come to feast on nectar.

Despite the fact that the praying mantis is thin and also slow by nature, his tactics of waiting bring great results. He sits for hours, frozen in a motionless pose, lifting up his front legs, the shins of which are embedded in the thighs and act like razor blades. He can sit like this for a very long time, until some careless midge or beetle falls into his paws. As soon as a suitable insect is nearby, it slowly creeps up to it and, throwing out its front legs, grabs the prey. When the insect is eaten, it again assumes the same position and waits for a new victim.

It is from this prayer posture that the praying mantis got its name. Translated from Greek, it means "prophet", from Latin - "religious". It was this posture that prompted Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish physician - the founder of a unified classification system for the plant and animal world, to give it such a name.

However, there is no secret in his posture. Raised paws help to quickly catch insects. In addition, praying mantises are terribly voracious. They eat everything from aphids to medium-sized beetles. During the year, the praying mantis eats a huge number of insects, and sometimes shows a tendency to cannibalism. Praying mantises become especially voracious during the mating season.

Praying mantis females are much larger than males and pose a real threat to them. Under the influence of sex hormones, praying mantises can show a tendency to cannibalism. Praying mantis females after mating or during it eat males with pleasure. Males approach the female always with the greatest caution, trying not to catch her eye.

The praying mantis is more likely to survive if the female has had a hearty meal and is busy eating the insect. Then the male has a great opportunity to hide after mating unnoticed. If this did not happen, then the female devours the male immediately after mating, eating his head with pleasure. It is hungry females that are more aggressive, but they are also more attractive to partners. Hungry females release more pheromones, which attracts as many males as possible to them. Although well-fed females are also popular, several individuals can fight for hungry ones at once.

Females kill males because they are driven by the instinct to take care of their offspring, the female is trying to provide them with the necessary nutrients. There is a version that the male unwittingly serves as a necessary source of protein. This theory is supported by the fact that well-fed females react sluggishly to males and do not always eat them after mating.