A Visit with the Praying Mantis

While out walking I came across a live Praying Mantis attached to the uppermost portion of a tall blade of grass.

The first thought that popped into my head was that this Mantis should have been dead by now, since it was late autumn, and their life cycle is relatively short, beginning at hatching in late spring and ending with their death in early autumn.

My second thought was more of a memory than anything else since at that moment I remembered seeing many of these creatures as a boy while I hiked through the valley behind my house. I also recalled hearing that the female praying mantis actually eats her partner while engaged in the act of mating, beginning at the males head and working her way down. Eeeh, what a way to go. Some guys sure have it rough.

In any event, theory has it that even while the males head is missing, he does not stop the copulation process since reflexes allow him to finish the job before the rest of his body is consumed. However, the truth appears to be that the female Praying Mantis, in a natural environment, rarely seems to cannibalize her mate. The cannabalistic behaviour was first reported by observers of captive specimens, but more recent field research has concluded little evidence of this act occurring.

It is important to note that these days any researcher worth their salt always takes into consideration that the species being studied, whether it be an African Elephant or a Beetle four centimetres long, may behave differently in captivity. In many instances when wild creatures are kept in confined and unnatural surroundings their behaviour can, sometimes, radically change. In the past, researchers have sometimes been too quick to jump to conclusions and assume that a creatures captive behaviour is the same as the way it will behave in the wild.

It now seems that when the mantids were confined, this reduced the male's chances of mating and fleeing to safety. The female Praying Mantis is larger and more aggressive than the male and therefore even in a natural setting, the male Mantis is taking his chances during mating.

For both male and female Praying Mantise's anything that moves and can be conquered is considered fair game. This does not leave the smaller male Mantis in a very good situation while trying to mate.

Male spiders are also in a similar situation and can become lunch rather than a mating partner.