Don't know why this fascinates me, but it does. Found a source that says captivity increases hunger and anomalous behavior, and also that decapitation stimulates copulation. (That sounds so cold and clinical -- how about "he starts banging away after his head is whacked off.") http://www.jstor.org/pss/1310334
The Snopes version for a quick read: http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/mantis1.asp --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "hugheshugo" wrote: > I always understood the mating rituals of insects to be a way > for the male to approach a mate and switch off her auto- > attack instinct, as soon as the deed is done she switches back > to kill-anything mode. But it doesn't matter for the male > if he gets caught because he dies not long after mating > the first time anyway. > > Not much in it for the guys in the arachnid world, but they > seem to be doing OK.
