3:31
In the middle of baby-making, a female praying mantis will sometimes chomp down on a male's head, then devour him as she finishes mating with him. And mantises aren't alone; many different species lunch on their lovers. But one thing is remarkably consistent: it's almost always the females doing the eating. Why is it dudes that always end up as dinner? Hi, I'm Kate, and this is MinuteFood. [Arcadi:] Uhhh, Kate? [Kate:] Oh, sorry! This is MinuteEarth. All sorts of critters will occasionally munch on members of their own species, but here, we're talking specifically about when an animal eats its mate - or potential mate - before,
during, or right after babymaking, which scientists call "sexual cannibalism". And - think about it - since females are the sex that lays the eggs or nurtures the offspring inside their own bodies, if a male eats a female before, during, or right after mating, there won't BE any babies. So any male who regularly dined on his dates wouldn't be able to pass along the habit. It can really only be females that make a habit of lunching on their lovers - and sometimes, that habit really pays off.
Like, killing off a baby daddy that otherwise would have helped raise the babies doesn't make a lot of sense. But in species where males don't help out, the female gets left alone to raise the babies - sometimes a LOT of babies - which takes a lot of energy. So if a convenient, protein-packed snack is, like, RIGHT THERE, it benefits her bigtime to chow down. One study found that mantis females that ate their mates laid more than twice as many eggs as those that didn't. Which might make it seem like mate-eating helps both female AND male mantises leave behind a bigger genetic legacy. But since the male ends up dead, his future prospects are over; if he hadn't been eaten, he could have gone on to mate again - and again, leaving way more babies behind.
In some cases, though, getting eaten does seem to benefit males. After redback spiders mate, the male often somersaults into the female's fangs, offering himself up to her. Scientists think this self-sacrifice evolved because in this species, the vast majority of males get eaten by predators before they ever get a chance to mate. So if a male redback does get lucky enough to actually get lucky, he's almost certainly not going to get another chance; he might as well sacrifice himself to his mate to make sure the babies are well-provided for. So we've covered why males get eaten during and after babymaking, but what's up with eating a
potential partner before mating, which guarantees exactly zero offspring from the pair-up? Well, in certain species, like fishing spiders, competition is intense, so it really pays for females to be super aggressive, and all that innate aggression can accidentally end up directed toward a potential mate.oops! The bottom line is that, while it seems unthinkable to us, sometimes it does make sense for females to plate their dates. Uncertainty about your future isn't just uncomfortable - it quietly shapes a lot of decisions we make every day. And not just cause you might get eaten; most of us will eventually face a moment when a job no longer feels stable, meaningful, or flexible enough.
That's why this video is sponsored by TripleTen - an online tech bootcamp built for people who are starting from scratch. What I like about them is that you don't just study and disappear into the job market alone: TripleTen gives you unlimited externship projects even after graduation, so your portfolio grows with you. 82% of TripleTen's grads get hired in 6 months or less. Click the link in the description or scan the QR code now for your free career consultation with TripleTen - let's make your future freedom-friendly.
Thanks, TripleTen!
