If the female gets the chance, she will eat him,...

Friday, February 3, 2012

“If the female gets the chance, she will eat him, beginning by biting his head off… It might seem most sensible for her to wait until copulation is over before she starts to eat him. But the loss of the head does not seem to throw the rest of the male’s body off its sexual stride. Indeed, since the insect head is the seat of some inhibitory nerve centres, it is possible that the female improves the male’s sexual performance by eating his head. If so, this is an.added benefit. The primary one is
that she obtains a good meal.” Richard Dawkins describing the mating habits of praying mantises, The Selfish Gene