DID YOU KNOW: PRAYING MANTISES 'PRACTICE' SEXUAL CANNIBALISM?

Hellos,.....two weeks ago, i published a blog on how a praying mantis invaded my home and my whole being was in quagmire for some good hours. While many of you had various reactions to the post, i still stood my ground, ....that thing is way too lethal to hang around! Luckily enough, one of my amazing audience members seems to have doubts about this 'docile' but hazardous insect in disguise. He sent me a message to do some more research about this whole 'coital cannibalism' that some praying mantis species' females practice. Thanks Cosmas for reaching out.

And without further ado, lets get cringing, shall we? Yeah, i meant it, cringing, because you will be shocked at how some ruthless female mantises treat their 'lovers' after some good hours of copulating. Yep i mean hours, they don't just take a lunch break and get 'jiggy' with it, they take their God given time and,...literally like,"we don't wanna do half-baked work, we'll take all the time we want." Haha, hope i don't have under age persons reading this shit.  Before i get into the reasons why this is 'business as usual' for these 'girls', let's get to know more about the mantises. Save the best for last, goes the old proverbial phrase.

STEREO VISION
Praying mantises have 3D vision, just like we humans and that makes them a one in a million family of insects with such a rich possession. They have 5 eyes,...yes, five of them. Two are those protruding cylinder bottoms hanging at the two edges of the ridiculously triangle shaped head while the other three lie in the middle of the whole sort of samosa situation. The big eyes are for seeing movement in a depth vision while the small ones detect light. It's a no brainer as of now that i get to accept, these crazy fellas have a similarity to humans.

Them eyes, them mandibles!

WHY ARE PRAYING MANTISES CALLED SO?
Well, its because when they are waiting for prey, they hold their front legs in an upright position as if folded in prayer. Also, the word 'mantis' is of Greek origin from a word 'mantikos' meaning prophet. There is a whole lot more of spiritual affiliations to this insect but i don't want to get there, allow me to proceed, thanks.

SWIFT AMBUSH
Mantises are said to have a very swift coordination with all their senses while they capture and devour their prey. Actually, the time lapse for this action is like the speed of lightning and can rarely be observed with naked eyes. Their serrated long front legs are also a perfect feature for keeping prey pinned up for the meal.

CAMOUFLAGE ASPECT
Mantises camouflage both for safety against predators like frogs and lizards and also to lure their prey. The perfect example of the prey luring devils are the Orchid Mantises whose color and structure fit perfectly the mimic of an orchard flower. See, looks can be extremely deceiving. In so doing, other insects bring their nosy selves to the 'flower' for nectar only to be entangled in the 'stiff tentacles' of some triangle headed being.

Here it is, doesn't look like an insect, does it?

FLEXIBILITY
Mantises have heads that can turn a whopping 180 degrees, mantises have been found to jump with extreme precision contorting their body midair to land on a precarious and specific target, just like cats. Normally, praying mantises range from 1-6 inches (2.5-15) Centimeters long depending on the species which are over 1,800.

LIFE CYCLE
Like most insects, mantises have three stages of a life cycle. They, however, generally live for only one year, half of which is spent in the egg and nymph stage so the mantis only enjoys six months of adult life. They also molt at end of particular periods and in the end, some develop wings while others dont. The females don't use their wings to fly but the males do. That sounds like some kinda gender inequality, haha.

One more for your optical nutrition. If u can't see it, check again.

LASTLY, THESE FEMALE CANNIBALS!

Now, there are different scientific reasons that rationalize this behavior but one that i read about and was more fascinated with, is the fact that the female mantises lay lots of eggs and while the mating process goes on, the they develop an urge to feed. One clear thing is; mantises eat fresh prey and unfortunately for the male counterparts, the females can access nothing but their partners during or immediately after the sexual intercourse. It's the very reason why they will bite off the partners head-to start with and dine on the rest later. 25% of the males die during the intercourse and research shows that the ones that survive continue to engage in this risky business. HAHA

A headless male mounting a female, where do u think the head disappeared to?

When a female eats a male after mating, his body resolves into hers and part of which is also passed on to the offspring.(i hope this ain't a confusion but that's just how it is) and the 'satisfying' bit is: Females who cannibalize their partners are found to produce 25% more eggs(which actually carry some of the males biological material) than those that don't. How more interesting or confusing for this matter can science get?

So basically, that's what i thought i would bring you this week. Somethings are not 'helpful' in real life but they are worth knowing. Imagine me narrating this whole thing to my grand kids, i would definitely look a genius to them. And also, the more we learn about nature, the more we get to be in sync with it. If knew that the mantis is barely dangerous to humans, i probably wouldn't have dived into a frenzy of fear when i sat face to face with the fella. See, he or she, whatever it was, would have found its way out.

Let's be open to learning,...as it never stops and also feed our minds with some interesting facts other than these daily horrific breaking news of climate uproars, the laying off of workers in companies,...the dirty politics making rounds on our TV sets,...our mind should also have something less terrifying and stressing. 

Here to warm your day with these weird facts,

                                                                          PATIENCE.