1. After mating, the male ribbon snake seals the female's genital opening with secretions from his kidneys. This seal serves as a kind of “chastity belt,” preventing mating from other males and guaranteeing fertilization by the first male to approach the female.

2. The male Darwin's rhinoderma, a frog native to the southern coast of Chile, swallows the eggs after fertilizing them and keeps them in his vocal sac. When the tadpoles grow, he opens his mouth and releases them out.

3. The seahorse is the only animal species whose males become pregnant and give birth. During the breeding season, the female seahorse swims up to the male and, using a nipple-like appendage, inserts the eggs into a special pouch-like chamber on the male's abdomen. The male then fertilizes them and carries the small seahorses on his belly for some time.

4. In Mozambican catfish, the fertilization process occurs in the female's mouth. After laying the eggs, she turns to swallow them. Then a male swims up to her, the spots on his anal fin are very similar to eggs. The female, confused, opens her mouth to swallow these eggs, and then the male releases sperm, fertilizing the eggs already in the female’s mouth. There the fry develop until they grow up. Even after small fish begin to look for food on their own, at the slightest danger they rush to a safe shelter - the mouth of their mother.

5. Female bed bugs do not have a mating hole, and males have to drill it themselves using their curved and sharp penis. Then he injects sperm into the female, which (if there is a lack of blood) the female sometimes also feeds on.

6. During mating, the female praying mantis eats her partner. While copulation lasts, the larger female holds the male with her front paws and begins to devour his head. The male's sexual desire is so great that he does not stop mating, even when he is in danger. Some scientists believe that the act of eating even increases the male's sexual desire.

7. The male acarymorph mite is born as a fully formed insect and assists its mother during childbirth, acting like a midwife. With his hind legs he grabs his sisters emerging from the genital opening and pulls them out. What's even stranger is that he copulates with them and remains nearby, ready to come to his mother's aid again at any moment.

8. The legs of a male water mite sometimes serve as additional genital organs for him to penetrate the female. During mating, he presses the female to the ground so tightly with tiny hooks that she can barely move. At the same time, he also sticks to her with the help of a special substance, so that she can no longer get away from him.

9. The marsh marsupial mouse is an Australian marsupial similar to ordinary mice, the only one among all mammals that dies after mating. During the breeding season, males are exclusively occupied with mating until they literally drop dead. Most of them die of hunger because they do not find time to look for food or absorb it.

10. The male tick does not have a genital organ, and he inserts his nose into the female's genital opening. Having widened it enough, he turns his backside and releases sperm from his rear hole. Then he turns around again and again pushes the sperm deeper with his nose.

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The most important thing in breeding mantises is mating. I will tell you about how mating takes place, what you need to do in order not to lose the male, how to determine how successful the copulation was. Let's go in order. So, how does mating work in praying mantises? As soon as the female is sufficiently fattened, she begins to “call” the male: emit pheromones, along which he flies to her. At this moment she lowers the end of her abdomen, sometimes at night you can notice this. When a male finds a female, his vision comes into play. Visual control of the partner is very important. The male slowly approaches her from behind to jumping distance, after which he throws himself on his back. Some males first jump the other way around: with their heads towards the ass, and only then turn around. It is not entirely clear what this is connected with. After the male has taken his place, he begins to stroke the female with his mustache so that she understands that this is not an attack. It then bends the end of its abdomen and mating begins.

Mating Mantis religiosa (I decided to divide the pairs by color; in nature, color does not matter)

Some species of mantises also have mating dances, but there are not very many such species in culture, so I will talk about this based on specific needs.

Health is the most important thing! In order to gain a foothold on the female, the presence of forelimbs is extremely important for the male. He needs healthy eyes to see the female. The absence of whiskers can provoke an attack from the female, and the absence of wings can interfere with the jump. That is, the mantis must be “in full combat gear,” and you should take care of this in advance. The presence of all limbs in the female is also important, since not all species of mantises are capable of depositing ootheca in a disabled state. Problems with wings, by the way, which occur more often in females than in males, are likely to create additional difficulties, since the gentleman will have to wade through excess vegetation.

A male Sphodromantis viridis managed to mate with a female whose wings were not spread correctly. As you can see, he's not very comfortable

Conclusion: just because a praying mantis is alive does not mean it is capable of reproducing. If you want to try your hand at breeding mantises, then you won’t be able to ignore the conditions of detention.

Preparing for praying mantises to mate:

Go ahead. You have a pair of praying mantises that are successfully molting and you want to prepare them for mating. What do we have to do? Well, for starters, wait until they dry out and start intensively feeding the female. Let the male rest; it is enough to feed him 2-3 times in the first two weeks and then offer him a small meal no earlier than once a week. But the female should eat as much as she wants. The bigger, the better. If you are greedy, then prepare a wreath in memory of the male.

In principle, 2 weeks after maturation, you can try to mate almost all types of mantises, except for the largest ones, which require 3-4 weeks to fatten. Males are ready to mate earlier than females, and this should be taken into account. By the way, I noticed one pattern: males who do not mate in the first month of adulthood can often die for unknown reasons, while males who are lucky enough to be useful continue to live quietly. There is no exact confirmation of this yet, but it’s still worth rushing, because the age of males is 2-3 times shorter than the age of females. And remember when I said that in some species the number of moults varies between sexes? So, it is these species that have the most problems forming a pair, because males can grow up a month earlier than females and simply cannot wait for them to be ready to mate. A striking example of this is the Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus). To mate mantises from the same brood, the female is fed at maximum temperature, and the male is “slowed down”: placed in the cold and fed rarely. I will tell you more about this species and the technology of braking males in the corresponding article, but the only important thing for you to know from here is that the number of molts of the species chosen for breeding should be taken into account and counting them, it turns out, is very, very useful in order to ultimately match the maturation of the male to the female .

Mating in praying mantises:

So, everything is ready. The pair of mantises has grown, all requirements have been met. Now all that remains is to pair. To do this, you will need a spacious cage or a smooth surface that is easy to move around.

An example of a good mating surface. Several pairs can be seated at the same time

“According to the classics,” the male is first planted and given time to get comfortable, after which the female is planted in front of him at some distance so that the direction of their movement coincides. Many males immediately notice the movement and become interested in the female.

Using the same Sphodromantis viridis as an example: somewhere at this distance it is worth planting the female. The male has already noticed her

The process will speed up if you blow on the male, creating the feeling of a light wind. He will slowly move towards the female, very carefully moving his legs, after which he will jump on her and get down to business. Mating will last from 6 hours to a day, depending on the size of the particular species. Next, the male will jump off the female and hide. For this you need a large volume.

After mating, the couple is seated, and the female continues to be fed so that she prepares to lay an ootheca. If a male has to fertilize several females, then, after the first mating, he will not be ready for the next one immediately, and you will need to feed him at least once and wait at least 3-4 days.

About the bitten off head of praying mantises:

You are reading the article just for this moment, right? If yes, then I will upset you: the importance of cannibalism in the sex life of mantises is greatly exaggerated. All the news about mandatory head biting is nonsense. Even more so about the fact that the female will bite off her own head if you don’t let her feed on the male. In fact, this mechanism is based on evolutionary rationalism and nothing more. As I already said, a well-fed female will attack a male extremely rarely, because she does not need it. But if you are greedy, then mating may not even begin. In nature, in principle, the same. If there is not enough food, then it will not be possible to form eggs and lay ootheca. Accordingly, mating itself is meaningless, and then the male will sacrifice himself after the act, becoming food for the female and the father of his children twice. If you don't want that kind of drama in your home, feed your female well. And with a bitten head it’s even easier. The male holds on very tightly, but the female can only reach the front of his body. The male does not intend to stop mating, so he pays with his head. Moreover, without her, he can calmly continue the business and even fly away in search of a new female. True, he will not be able to mate with her, since without eyes he will not detect her. By the way, there are many interesting theories about the causes of sexual cannibalism, but we will not deviate from the main topic.

Tenodera sp. Cambodia: When time is running out, taking a chance on a male is the only solution. As you can see, mating continues

He managed to get away...

Possible problems and their solutions:

In words, all this is simple, and in nature, praying mantises somehow survive, but when it comes to breeding individuals, you can encounter a lot of problems.

1. Even a seemingly healthy male is not always capable of reproduction if there are internal disorders associated with poor living conditions or congenital defects. In this case, no matter what you do, there will be no reaction to the female. There is nothing left to do but replace the male.
2. Sometimes the female is the problem. Either you are in a hurry and she is not ready yet, or she is not emitting pheromones. But the latter is controversial, since males can mate with females of other species if they notice them. Still, the question here is whether the male sees his partner or not.
3. Autistic male. Usually, this is the male's first experience. He misses when jumping on a female, may approach her too slowly, forgetting where he was going in the first place, sit on the female for a long time without continuing, and then jump off. Solution to the problem: plant more and more praying mantises while you have the opportunity. The male will gradually gain the necessary experience and cope with the task (but it happens that the wait is prohibitively long, therefore, to be on the safe side, it is advisable to take at least a couple of males).
4. Recently, thanks to the efforts of Sergei Kalashnikov, another problem was identified. It happens that sexual intercourse that has begun is interrupted ahead of time. The male does not have time to transfer the seed and is forced to “connect” again. If this is repeated several times, mating cannot be considered successful. While we have not found out the exact reasons, there are only a few hypotheses: the female is not ready yet (but more than a month has passed since the final molt); the male is too large and the female is too small (that is, it is difficult for the male to get through where he should); degeneration of a particular line from inbreeding; excessive stress for the male, forcing him to interrupt the act and become wary. We are working and will tell you about it as soon as something becomes clearer.
5. The female sheds her spermatheca immediately after mating. In this case, mating is considered single and requires repetition. If the female sheds an empty spermatheca within a few hours, then this, on the contrary, is a sign of successful mating.
6. Too passionate male. Funny? But no! And in the world of mantises, it happens that the male, without calculating his strength, can stab the female in the abdomen and damage it. In such situations, it all depends on the extent of the damage. But, often, this does not cause serious injuries, but it certainly affects the life expectancy of the female.
7. There are a number of interesting theories, which are quite difficult to test. For example, some experienced keepers claim that the constant presence of a male next to a female causes him to get used to pheromones and reduces interest in his partner. There is also information that the sexual activity of the male is negatively affected by the lack of temperature fluctuations day and night. There is no end to the work here, and to establish any patterns it will be necessary to carry out a lot of experiments. We don't have such capabilities yet.

The final article in the series about praying mantises: " Diapause in praying mantises", is presented to your attention.

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This is not surprising, because the insect is very aggressive and even attacks its relatives. Even during mating, the female praying mantis is known to eat the male. In this regard, the question arises, what differences does the praying mantis insect have, why is this representative of arthropod dangerous and useful for humans? Does its size matter? After all, if we take flies and mosquitoes as an example, it becomes clear that even a tiny creature can cause serious harm to health. Thus, mosquitoes spread malaria and other serious diseases. Praying mantises are not small by insect standards. Different species reach from four to nine centimeters in length! Add to this the ability to camouflage and the habits of a predator - there is something to worry about.

Why does a female praying mantis eat the male during mating??

The breeding season for praying mantises occurs from August to September. Males go in search of dangerous girlfriends, but family happiness is not expected for predatory insects. The female eats the male directly during mating, starting from the head. After all, the nerve nodes on the abdomen are responsible for the sexual process. Experts have studied this behavior of praying mantises.

In the early stages of research into the biology of these insects, scientists were of the opinion that the female behaved in such a way as to increase the amount of sperm she received from the agonizing male mantis.

Modern entomologists have come to the conclusion that this version is erroneous. After careful research, it became clear that the female praying mantis devours the male only in order to obtain an additional source of proteins for the development of eggs.

Why is it believed that the female praying mantis necessarily eats the male during mating? This does not always happen. It is known that especially cautious males are able to complete their mission and quickly get out of the sight of their predatory friend.

Can a praying mantis bite a person??

Young praying mantises behave more modestly than adults, do not attack large prey and do not even try to bite a person. The insects do not pose a serious threat, but they can injure with their claws. An adult can easily survive such a nuisance, but it is better to protect a small child from meeting an aggressive praying mantis. The predator even hunts small birds and mammals if they were careless to disturb his peace.

Can a praying mantis bite an adult when it encounters it? Of course, such a possibility exists. However, children are eager to explore the world around them and have a greater chance of encountering dangerous insects. It is better to keep very young children away from this creature to prevent pain. Don't frighten kids too much with the praying mantis. In the forest or steppe there are much more dangerous creatures: poisonous snakes, stinging wasps and infection-carrying rodents.

Benefits of the praying mantis

Praying mantises are widely used by gardeners to control pests. Because of their omnivorous nature, they quickly deal with all the inhabitants of the garden or garden, saving plants and vegetables from death. These insects have become faithful allies of humans in the agricultural sector. However, the main advantage of praying mantises is also its disadvantage. The fact is that along with pests, beneficial insects, such as bees, also die in their paws.

The insect mantis, what makes it dangerous and useful for humans is its aggressive gluttony. It bites furiously, fighting all living creatures, it is useful as an entomophage, destroying garden pests. In any case, the insect cannot but attract the attention of both scientists and ordinary people.

Praying mantises have become famous in the animal world due to the special relationship between females and males. As is known, female individuals kill their partner.

Immediately after copulation begins, females deprive their partner of their head by biting it off. In this case, sexual intercourse, in principle, continues, since the male’s seed continues to be transmitted to the female for some period. As a result, the female lays a minimum of ten, maximum of four hundred eggs, which are stored in a special capsule made of foamy protein raw materials, referred to in the scientific world as ootheca. Then the female hangs the capsule on a blade of grass or a tree branch, and she goes off to finish eating the father of her children.

Before we begin to describe the reasons for such strange behavior of females, let's figure out what mantises are.

Firstly, these are predatory insects, the size of which is within five centimeters. Praying mantises have a well-developed flying apparatus, but they use it extremely rarely. In appearance they resemble long green leaves, although brown, yellow and other variations occur in nature. These insects inhabit tropical and subtropical zones of our planet.

It is widely believed that praying mantises spend most of their lives in the grass, but this is far from true. You can find them on trees and flowers. Ordinary mantises are real defenders of nature, destroying various pests, but flower mantises themselves are such. Because they sit on flowers and eat pollinating insects.

Mantises are excellent hunters; despite the fact that nature deprived them of size, she gave them steely patience. It is because of this that they can remain in one position for hours, waiting for a victim. And as a rule, their hunt brings the desired results. The position of the body at the time of hunting resembles a human prayer pose. That's why the insect has such an unusual name.

Males are much smaller than females, so the latter pose a huge threat to them.

Praying mantises can save their lives only if, before mating, their lady ate plenty or the male overtook his companion during the hunt and managed to take a waiting and then dominant position, and quickly disappeared after the end of sexual intercourse. At the same time, hungry females attract more males, as they are able to release a large amount of pheromones. It is for such ladies that males arrange real duels, fights to the death.

So, now let's move on to the main question, what pushes females to such desperate actions. We, based on a number of studied scientific articles, identified two factors:

1. Increased sperm flow and quantity. The female, in order to obtain the partner’s seed, specifically bites off his head during sexual intercourse. This in turn increases the partner’s movement and the amount of sperm doubles. Why is that? It’s simple, the nerve endings located in the abdomen of a male individual are responsible for reproductive function;
2. Valuable protein for egg development. In order to enrich her body and future offspring with a sufficient amount of protein, the female takes such measures, sacrificing the male.

Interesting and rare insects are mantises. Many articles have been written about their life, and the behavior of females is controversial among scientists.

Some breed them at home, others do not distinguish them from grasshoppers. Read how to identify a female praying mantis and why she eats the male's head.

From the photo you can really understand that the insect is very similar to a grasshopper, but the size of the mantis can reach almost 18 cm, depending on the species and place of residence.

Insects live in Africa; it is in that area that the “grasshopper” grows to this size.

Important! The representative of the family differs from fellow locusts in its ability to move its head around its axis.

Among the anatomical features, the insect has only one ear, but, despite the vicissitudes of nature, its hearing is excellent.

At home, a praying mantis can live in a terrarium for about 2-3 months. Some varieties can live for about a year.

But most of all people are interested in unusual reproduction. But what does the female look like and how does it differ from the male representative?

Read about all the features in the table:

Criterion for comparison	Female	Male
Size	The female will be several centimeters larger	Reaches about 5 cm in length, when the female is 7-8 cm in length
Leg length	Short, up to 1.5 cm	Long – about 2 cm
Coloring	Female swamp-colored with patterns on the back	Bright color that attracts attention
Wings	Approximately the same size, but females do not use them because they are too heavy	Same as for female representatives, only males can fly
Mustache	Short, sometimes may be absent	Long
Nutritional Features	Can eat other insects, including males	They eat small flies, mosquitoes and midges
Behavior	Female “headless” individuals are aggressive and can often attack large animals. In some cases, a large female mantis can defeat a mouse	They are cowardly and often hide and run away when in danger.

Important! Praying mantises are beneficial insects. They eat flies, midges and ants, eliminating the number of useless biters. However, larger species may feed on bees.

The easiest way to identify a female is by its larger size. The female's belly is thick, adapted for procreation.

Insects also have lobes on their abdomen: the female has 6, and the male has 8 parts.

Why and why does the female eat the head of a praying mantis after mating?

Scientists and naturalists are still arguing why the process of tearing off the head of a male representative occurs.

Some people believe that a male is not capable of ejaculation if he has a head on his shoulders, but there are other options:

• Protects future offspring. The female lays eggs after a short time, and the male representative can destroy her children. In this way, the insect protects its larvae.
• Stocked with nutrients. Now the woman will not have time to look for food, so she eats “in reserve.” This way she will have enough protein in her body to lay eggs.
• Provokes ejaculation. After the head is torn off, the sperm penetrates deeper, improving fertilization.

Important! Sometimes the male may remain alive.

But cunning males know about the female’s intentions, so they try to carefully sneak up on her.

Some gentlemen may remain motionless behind her, waiting for her to start eating so that they can begin mating. The mantis remains headless in 50% of cases.

Why did the female tear off her own head?

In fact, females destroy and eat only males half the time.

There are some witnesses who saw how after mating the mantis was able to escape, and she tore off her own head. Such cases can indeed occur, but in rare cases.

From this a famous Internet joke was born:

“Today I saw mating mantises. I stopped, watched what was happening and managed to grab the male before his head was bitten off. The female looked at me, and then took it and tore off her head. Herself. For yourself. Head. Women."

Reproduction and breeding at home

Despite the stereotype, the mating season for insects begins not in spring, but in autumn. The male half begins to intensively search for females to continue their lineage.

It is interesting that males know about the intentions of the female side, but still look for a way to have sexual intercourse.

Important! The mating process in praying mantises lasts about 3 hours.

The young male, throwing caution to the wind, attracts the individual with his color and special mating dance. After ejaculation, the male can leave if he has time.

At home, you can extend the life of one species to 1.5 years, if you do not forget to feed and care for them.

Even after the death of her betrothed, the bride can continue to lay eggs. At one time she can demolish from 50 pieces.

At home, you can prevent the death of the male by controlling the process of capturing the female.

For breeding, follow the instructions:

1. Choose any time. Insects can breed in your home at any time of the year. Most likely, there will be a lot of offspring, so to prevent individuals from dying, it is better to do this in the warm season.
2. Bring the female to the groom, you can observe the process of rapprochement and mating. To prevent a woman from breaking her lover's neck, control the distance between the mantises from above.
3. In a few days the first eggs will appear. After maturation, larvae emerge from them and can eat each other. It's best to always feed baby mantises to avoid reducing the population.
4. Separate or sell the grown insects. Release into the wild those that do not fit in the terrarium.

Breeding mantises is not the most pleasant process, since a person will sometimes have to open the shell of the eggs and get the larvae. Within a month, dozens of adults can be raised.

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