Some animals eat their partners, which is called sexual or animal cannibalism. In the animal world, mating can be dangerous for males, as they often end uup dead.
Usually, it’s not other predators that kill the males, but rather larger and stronger females, especially after mating. Female animals eat their partners because they need more energy and nutrients to have babies, so they turn to sexual cannibalism.
Here are eight animals that eat their partners:
1. Praying Mantis
Female mantises are larger and stronger than males, which helps them catch food easily. They release a special scent called pheromones to attract males. When a male tries to mate with a female, he’s at risk of being attacked.
Even if the female bites off the male’s head, he can still mate because his body can still function. Having babies requires a lot of energy from the female, as she may lay around 100 eggs.
2. Black Widow Spider
The black widow spider is another creature that sometimes eats its mate during mating. Similar to mantises, male black widows are much smaller than females, usually less than half their size.
Females build webs coated with their scent called pheromones. A male spider attracted to the scent does something called “web reduction,” where it cuts parts of the web and covers the female’s scent with its own.
To mate with the female, the male has to position part of its body between the female’s fangs. This puts it at risk of being eaten by the female.
3. Jumping Spider
Male jumping spiders must impress females with dance moves and song vibrations to mate.
Female jumping spiders are selective, allowing mating only if they’re impressed. If not, the male risks being eaten.
To win over a female, the male must showcase impressive dance moves, jumping around and waving its limbs.
Additionally, the male creates a song by hitting parts of its body together, producing vibrations that the female can feel.
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4. Anaconda
Female anacondas are usually able to feed during their pregnancy. As a result of this, they’ll sometimes eat mates to get the nutrients they need for the next seven months.
Anaconda squeeze their mates to death and feed on their bodies after mating.
5. Octopus
Once the males finish mating, it’s common for the female octopus to consume them. Since many male octopuses typically perish shortly after mating, it seems like a logical outcome. Female octopuses take care of their eggs and die after laying them.
However, octopus cannibalism extends beyond mating, as it’s not unusual for the hatchlings to consume each other.
6. Scorpion:
Scorpions are known for possibly eating their mates. Mothers put a lot of effort into their babies, giving birth to as many as 100 live young in one go.
Unlike many other animals, scorpions give birth to live babies instead of laying eggs, which requires even more energy.
Sometimes, males are eaten by females after mating to provide sustenance. Scorpion mothers might even eat their own babies to survive.
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