Sexual Cannibalism in Praying Mantises
Praying mantises are known to be very good predators in the wild and can be found in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas where there is plenty of green vegetation because they use the color of their habitat as camouflage from other predators. These insects have a wide range of prey from moths to roaches and to even devouring other praying mantises. The females are known to cannibalize their male counterpart while they mate; this strange occurrence is known as sexual cannibalism. Contrary to belief, not all species of praying mantises partake in sexual cannibalism like the mantises from the genus Ciulfina. There have been many studies done to explain why sexual cannibalism has evolved between praying mantises. The results from these experiments give insight to what the effect of the female’s nutritional status has on the male, and what the benefits of sexual cannibalism are for the female.
Mate Attraction in a Sexually Cannibalistic Praying Mantis
There was a study done by William D. Brown at the State University of New York at Fredonia testing the behavior of male mantises when given the chance to mate with a sexually cannibalistic female praying mantis. The population tested were part of the species T. sinensis. They tested two groups of males: one group who had low-access to females, and another group that had high-access to females. The low-access group was isolated from the females for a period of five days, while the high-access group had unrestricted contact with well-nourished females for multiple periods each day. The females were then either starved for five days, known as the high-risk group, or well nourished, known as the low-risk group, so that the males could be ...
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...always eager to pass on their genes. They have the ability to sense whether or not female mantises are in good body condition, and this can lead to them being selective of which female they want to mate with. Since female mantises tend to cannibalize their male counterparts when they are in poor body condition and deprived of resources, the male mantises try to find females that are in god body condition so that they have a lesser chance of being the female mantis’s next prey. Whether or not the female bears eggs or not is also another factor that attracts males because bearing eggs creates a greater quality of pheromone that the female releases. These experiments have given insight to the cannibalistic mating ritual that praying mantises perform: sexual cannibalism. It is not simply a vicious savagely act of murder, but a great example of sexual selection.
Abstract: The house cricket, Acheta domesticus, was used to test whether food and potential mates drive aggressive behavior. Male crickets were randomly selected in pairs and place into a cage to observe aggressive behaviors in the presence of no food, food, and female. The cage provided a confine area for the crickets to fight one another while the variables of food and female were used in attempts of increasing aggressive interactions between the male crickets. There was no significance found through this experiment due to a lack of data. It was discovered that the experiment would have to be done at a larger scale to be able to see any significance in the two variables.
In the events preceding the selected passage of Des Cannibales, Montaigne gives several situations of events in which man’s honour has been tested and proven, citing the example of the Hungarian’s merciful attitude towards their captured enemies, whom they released unharmed after having defeated them in battle. The classical reference to Seneca with the quote, “Si succiderit, de genu pugnat” foreshadows the passage in question, in which the captured Brazilians refuse to surrender or feel fear, but rather taunt their captors and remain defiant until their last breath. The passage then develops into an observation of the polygamous culture of the New World, which Montaigne praises and later goes onto defend as natural, arguing that it was customary in Biblical times and therefore should not be condemned by supposedly superior and cultured Europeans.
In 2012 by Laura A. Kelley and John A. Endler that the male bowerbirds use illusions to promote their mating success. They followed this study up in 2014 due to large amount of controversy with their findings. In their 2012 study, they suggested that male bowerbirds actively maintain size-distance gradients of objects on their bower courts that create forced-perspective illusions for female’s viewing their display from within the bower avenue (IPMSIGB). They argue that the females view males displaying over the court with a predetermined viewing geometry and that it’s essential for forced perspective viewing. They also argue that the males arrange ...
The insect keeps the meat fresh by not immediately killing its prey. Instead, it cuts carefully around body parts integral to life, first eating the ones least necessary to survival and ending with vital ones. Gould likens this process to that of drawing and quartering; an antiquated execution procedure practiced by humans, writing, “As the king’s executioner drew out and burned his client’s entrails, so does the ichneumon larvae eat fat bodies and digestive organs first… preserving intact the essential heart and central nervous system” (Gould 2). Gould refers to the human victim as a “client,” a word which connotes partnership and consent, making it seem as though the person in question agreed to their own death. As Gould extends the executioner metaphor to the wasp through his use of analogy, one is lead to believe that the victim of the wasp willingly consents to his death as well. Furthermore, the grisly process detailed in the passage seems quite ordinary, as the reader is desensitized to the violent actions of the wasp through Gould’s cold, clinical word choice, or lack thereof. The stark contrast between the wasp’s brutal actions and the lack of descriptive language denys one an opportunity to fully comprehend the agonizing death of the insect’s victim. This portrayal of the wasp plays directly into the religious perspective by depicting it as an insensitive being with a shocking lack of compassion for its victim. As morality is defined by the ability the determine right from wrong, the wasp appears to be totally immoral as it mercilessly murders another creature for its own
Nutritive mimicry is when a non-rewarding flower mimics the appearance of a rewarding flower that provides food for the pollinator. Over a period of time the flowers that rely on nutritive mimicry have adapted to mirror the appearance of rewarding flowers. However the mimic is not an exact depiction of the model flower in which they aspire to mirror. This is why it is beneficial for the deceptive flowers to bloom slightly before their model species, as it has been theorized that it does not require a strong resemblance in appearance. In order to increase the chances of pollination the species of mimics have slightly different mimics to the same model flower. These multiples of species of mimics make it difficu...
Governed under the principles of male supremacy and superiority, it is comprehensible as to why female sexuality has been coined a “dangerous mechanism”
As a result, the chicken’s life was spared because of her fertility, causing the family to see her worth. However, the chicken can also be depicted as an allegory to the social obligations placed on women. This is because a woman is seen as someone who is able to expand a family or create one due to their fertility. As a result, those who are able to create life are often praised no matter what species they may belong to. This behavior is even exerted onto the chicken as the narrator states, “The chicken had become the queen of the house” (129).
Filial cannibalism is a biological phenomenon where an adult or a parent of a species attacks and consumes all or some of its offspring. This behaviour is quite common among fish species, the family poeciliidae in particular. Filial cannibalism in poeciliids is very well documented due to their commercial popularity as aquaria fish. Poeciliids are live-bearers and engage in partial clutch cannibalism where the parents only cannibalise on some of their offspring (Manica 2002). Scientists do not fully understand as to why this behaviour exists as it is seemingly disadvantageous since the act decreases their reproductive success and ability to pass on their genes. Yet, if the behaviour was to the detriment of the poeciliids the trait would not have been favoured, evolutionarily speaking. Filial cannibalism is so widespread among poeciliids, which means that there must be benefits to this behaviour. However, does this behaviour only benefit those in captivity or is it as prominent in wild poeciliids?
Typical Western thought directs people to examine the practices of cannibalism as savage and primitive. More often than not, this type of association exists because the people viewing the action are frightened and confused by that which they do not understand. In fact, some would even claim that, “cannibalism is merely a product of European imagination” (Barker, 2), thereby completely denying its existence. The belief that cannibalism goes against “human instinct”, as seen in many literary works including Tarzan, reduces those who practice it to being inhuman. (Barker, 1) However, scientific findings demonstrate that those who practice cannibalism are still human despite their difference in beliefs; therefore, not only can rationalization be extrapolated from those who practice the act of cannibalism, but also denying the fact of the participant’s very humanity has been undermined through scientific findings.
The two books examined in this paper, Martin Daly and Margo Wilson's Homicide and David M. Buss's The Evolution of Desire, suggest that human mating strategies have an evolutionary basis. The book written by Martin Daly and Margo Wilson supplies the theoretical groundwork and the book written by David M. Buss gives validity and empirical support for the theory. The two books make a strong scientific argument for evolutionary adaptations as the most crucial element to understanding human sexuality and desire. According to this argument, the key to understanding human sexuality lies in the evolutionary origin of our species.
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind” (Genesis 9: 5-7). If God created man in his image, what does eating a fellow human being suggest? We would certainly agree that it is wrong to eat the image of God. Unlike vices like murder or lying, cannibalism is hard to justify even when you’re deserted on an island with a few others with no food in sight. However, to believe that cannibalism is wrong or unnatural in every case might make us ignorant of what it can tell us about the breadth of human culture or about the balance between revenge and justice. Either way, our stance on cannibalism depends on our understanding of what it represents and the role it plays, as reflected
Stadler, B. and A. Dixon. 2008. Mutualism: Ants and Their Insect Partners. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Forensic entomology is the study of insects and arthropods and their relation to a criminal investigation. Forensic entomology can determine the postmortem interval (PMI) or how long since the descendants’ death, whether the body has been moved since expiring, and what injuries may have been sustained (Ryan, 2011). When decomposition begins, insects establish a colony to lay eggs on the remains; these eggs will hatch into larvae that will eat the human organs and tissues. Forensic entomologists can determine the specific insects present in the body and estimate how long a body has been left exposed by examining the stage of development of the fly larvae; however, these findings are not always plausible. The fly larvae look and act different at each stage of development. The time required for stage development is not only affected by environmental influences such as geographical location, climate, and weather conditions, but also by type of insect. The forensic entomologist must consider these conditions when estimating the postmortem interval. Knowledge of insects, their life cycles, and their habits make entomological evidence a priceless tool for an investigation. Forensic entomology has proved its significance in a number of cases; though circumstances such as weather, temperature, and time of year clearly affect the development of insect infestation, and the expert must keep these in the forefront of his/her mind (Innes, 2000).
Behavioural hypothesis centres on protection of nest and the forming of the mating bond. (Mueller (1990) p. 553-585). This has similarities with the male mating theory.
Seventh, in some groups of insects, truly social behavior has evolved. Social behavior will allow a large population to survive through difficult periods via cooperation in food gathering, food storage, temperature control, and colony