Female praying mantis eat their male partner after sexual intercourse as it may increase their fertility and ensure the potential survival of the species, scientists have said. Eating prey isn’t the only feeding that praying mantises do. The male will have more of his genes passed on to the next generation if he fertilizes more eggs, and more eggs are laid by females who eat their mates—88 vs. 37.5, in one study. The praying mantis is well-known for two things: 1) the posture that makes it look like the insect is praying, and 2) the fact that the female often devours the male throughout the mating process. It is said that only 15% of praying mantis females consume a male after mating. In this method, the female kills or feeds herself on the male after mating. However, when mating, females are less likely to attack a male. i really dont know why they eat the male...but..yeah on youtube i was watching videos and praying mantis's can eat humming birds and lizzards :O kind of scary but they dont harm humans :D. Source(s): me :D. 1 7. Most mantis species are cannibalistic. An orchid mantis perches atop flower petals. Paradoxically, then, the female praying mantis's sexual cannibalism may have an evolutionary advantage for both the female and the male. While it’s still strange to researchers as to why this is done, many believe that this could be beneficial to the number of eggs a female praying mantis lays. Yes, Female Praying Mantises Do Eat Their Mates. Praying mantises are supremely gifted in camouflage. In praying mantids, females eat their male mates around 30% of the time. People also ask, why do Praying Mantis females eat the males? ... On the other hand, if the male is only exposed to one female during its lifetime, he will linger around after copulation so that the female might eat him afterwards. Of the species of praying mantises known to exhibit sexual cannibalism it is estimated up to 28% of males are eaten by their partner. After mating, the female stores the male's sperm and later uses it to fertilise the eggs that she produces. The female typically begins by biting off her partner’s head, and she works down from there. In fact, while mating she will rip the head off of the male and later eat his body. by Jesslyn Shields Oct 30, 2020. Adegsm / Getty Images. I think if I were a male mantid, I wouldn’t like those odds. A praying mantis will eat or try to eat just about any insect it can grab a hold of and is not strong enough to fight back, and another mantis is no exception. The female praying mantis is notorious for killing her mate after intercourse. 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