Cannibal Sex Queens of the Underbrush!

WARNING!
XXX ADULT INSEX CONTENT!!! XXX

If you are a juvenile, grub or larva, you may not view these photos until after your final moult. They depict acts of extreme eroticism between consenting adult insects.

Please come back when you can fly, you're pumping pheromones and your abdominal segment feels swollen and itchy.

The local praying mantis species in New Mexico is Stagmomantis carolina, the only species native to North America. The males, front, are winged and more slender than the females. They mature in late summer, and their orgy hits its peak around Labor Day. Males home in on pheromones produced by a female, then target her with their excellent eyesight. She may be oblivious, interested, or... hungry?

When the male gets close enough, he leaps onto the female's back and grasps her with his forelegs. He may stroke her head with his antennae while he rocks backward, his abdomen autonomously bending and curving under her to bring their sex organs closer. When she opens up, two small barbs on his penis dig into her, and she clamps down, holding him tightly in place. The sexual grip is so strong he cannot be removed. The female finds a quite place to hang upside-down, and the couple usually copulate for six hours, unless...

...the female is very hungry or he's very clumsy. Stagmomantis females aren't very cannibalistic; I've never seen this in the wild. But if the female wants to, she can reach around, grab him and eat him, even while he's copulating. He doesn't seem to mind; a small nerve ganglion in his head inhibits the copulatory impulse, so if the female nibbles his head off, he performs better! Decapitated males may copulate for up to 12 hours, presumably because it's their only chance. What a way to go, eh?

All text and images Copyright 2000 by Malcolm Brenner. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without written permission.
Images #1 and #3 shot in my studio with flash; #2 on location in Shiprock, N.M., by available daylight. Camera: Olympus OM-1. Lenses: custom close-up rig of my own design (#1) and 85mm. f2 Zuiko with closeup lens, (#2,3). Film: #1, Kodachrome 64; #2, Kodacolor 100; #3, Fujichrome 100.
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