The Washington Post reports on a new study from Proceedings of the Royal Society B, which exposes this bizarre tactic of some mantids in Australia. Researchers forced the males to only pick by biological indicators such as scent, and their study suggested females that were incredibly hungry were giving off the most biological signaling.
From the Washington Post:
It seems that a starving female will throw the last of her energy into producing the chemical signals associated with fertility. But while she’s much more likely to eat the mates she lures in (90 percent of the hungry females did so) she’s also less likely to actually let the male mate with her beforehand.
via Gizmodo
Image: Praying mantis in 2011 via AP
