# Mating behavior of the mantis

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mating-behavior-of-the-mantis/552966>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 7, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mating-behavior-of-the-mantis/552966 "2010-09-07T21:23:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mating-behavior-of-the-mantis/552966/1 "2010-09-07T21:23:25Z")

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Re:[mantis mating habits](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/368/does-mrs-mantis-bite-mr-mantiss-head-off-during-the-act) it is noted that some of the mating behavior is attributable to laboratory conditions. There was a TV show long ago showing the female biting the head of the male during mating. It was later reported somewhere, that in that case it was the lighting used by the photographer that caused the action in question.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mating-behavior-of-the-mantis/552966/2 "2010-09-08T18:05:04Z")

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Cecil does address that, I think, in the second paragraph:

> [@](#):
>
> In most of the 1,500 species of mantis, in fact, cannibalism is fairly rare. Past reports of mass slaughter were based on observations in the lab, a stressful environment that apparently brought out the female mantis’s bad side.
> 
> But even in the field, male manticide occurs “more often than not” …

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mating-behavior-of-the-mantis/552966/3 "2010-09-10T01:08:57Z")

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So is it ‘fairly rare’, or ‘more often than not’?

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mating-behavior-of-the-mantis/552966/4 "2010-09-10T15:14:05Z")

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“Fairly rare” among mantids in general. “More often than not” in the case of _Mantis religiosa_.

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**Author:** ![jcdevildog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@jcdevildog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcdevildog)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mating-behavior-of-the-mantis/552966/5 "2010-09-10T23:14:58Z")

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What I’d like to know is, what is an “ant tycoon”? In the current economy, I’m thinking it might be good to have an additional string to my bow; and I already have the ants. Is there an ant MBA program out there somewhere?