Is sex worth it?

[Wahine]

So I come out of my house to find this amourous couple next to my doorway. These are praying mantis and they have finished copulating and the female is eating, yes literally eating the male. This pic makes DH very nervous and gives a whole new meaning to sex on the first date, before dinner of course.

[RoadRaven]

LOL Wahine!
Way to catch peoples attention!
Most excellent thread title...

Hmmm... I guess from the gals point of view its very worth it... she gets a nutritious snack afterwards without having to walk all the way to the fridge to alleviate post-coital munchies...

She does get a new guy everytime... however a series of one-night (afternoon) stands wouldn't be hugely fulfilling in the long term...

From his perspective??? Hmmm, she'd have to be one heckuva lay!

Oh... most excellent close-ups... if a tad gruesome...

[Wahine]

Agreed on every point. Especially the nutritious snack bit.

[LBTC]

Wow! Crazy pics Wahine! Fabulous captures!

H&B
~T~

[Dianyla]

According to my copy of Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice To All Creation, the male mantis' sex impulses are throttled by his brain. Once she bites the head off, he goes completely unrestrained for the brief remainder of his life.

So, yeah, sounds like it's worth it. For her.

[Mr. Bloom]

Mr. Silver walks in the room without knocking...

....hears the conversation....

...tries to slowly back out the door without attracting attention to his presence...

...gets back on his bike and rides as fast as he can!!!!

[lizbids]

hahaha, those are GREAT photos! Loved the title, too. You're lucky she didn't set her eyes on the peeping Tom with the camera next!

[Rumblefish]

Those are awesome photos...and here I though only national geographic and discovery could get stuff like that!

Does anyone know why the female mantis eats her one-time lover?? (poor guy.... ) Are all male preying mantis (what the devil is the plural of mantis?) that bad in the sack she becomes so enraged and eats him? there must be more to it.....or is there?

[Aquila]

The quick "I took bio once and..." answer to Rumblefish's question.

From the female's POV: she's got what she wants from the male (sperm), and by eating him, she gets good nutrition, too. So eating him makes her reproductive success likely to be a bit better.

From the males POV: he's got his sperm into the female. This "packet" of sperm is pretty much his reproductive future. IF he gets away, he MAY be able to breed again. Or not. If he gets eaten, then he's pretty much giving his all for the improved success of the sperm/egg combo he's contributed to.

In Darwinian terms, it's not really about surviving yourself, it's about trying to produce the next generation and the next and the next. If the male can improve the likely success of his offspring through better nutrition, then his genes are likely to survive. It's only worth doing 1) if the mantis is going to produce lots of potential offspring with a greater likelihood of reproductive success because of his nutritional donation, 2) if there's not great likelihood that he can mate again to produce double the number of potential offspring, 3) if the male mantis isn't going to contribute in some other way to the likely success of the offspring.

So, human males don't have much to worry about! We humans don't produce lots of spawn at one mating (a single mating has a low likelihood of producing even 1 offspring--despite every TV show about a teen girl who has sex once!), most mate more than once, and in humans, the likelihood of offspring success is greater if more adults are contributing to its care.

[Happy_Wheels!]

Is sex worth it?

Hell yes!

Luv,
Happy_Wheels!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

...gets back on his bike and rides as fast as he can!!!!

Ride.......ride like the wind!!

[ClockworkOrange]

...............These are praying mantis and they have finished copulating and the female is eating, yes literally eating the male......

Now something is really wrong here, to actually watch them having sex.......

You should have been off on your bike.

Joking apart the photos are amazing, thanks for sharing them.

AND finally............



Sally

[Zen]

Is sex worth it?

Hell yes!

Luv,
Happy_Wheels!

Must be a guy.

From a human perspective, the prospect of sex makes the male do stupid things. No further details necessary.

[Starfish]

Does anyone know why the female mantis eats her one-time lover??

...why should she put up with the whole pig when all she wants is a little sausage?

OK, OK, just a joke, but one that always makes me laugh out loud.

[Starfish]

the prospect of sex makes the male do stupid things. No further details necessary.

Oh, that it were only guys this principle affects...