The Death of a Mantis

Joshua went out to the balcony for a smoke. He needed some time to think over the entire matter. Marie realized it too. So she quietly retired to her bedroom. "We can't go on like this, I can't take it anymore. You must choose now," she had told him earlier at dinner. She didn't want to say it, but it just happened. Actually, it had to happen someday, and she knew it all too well. During these five years of their courtship, only the fear of losing Joshua had somehow prevented her from saying it out loud. But today an innocuous joke had triggered her outburst. Her concealed anger and frustration had suddenly found a vent, and they poured out with full vengeance, hoping to hurt and shame Joshua, if not make him repent.

"Joshua, I think you never really understood me. To you I am simply an escape from the daily squabbles of your unhappy married life. You behave as if you have every right to turn to me for comfort, but that I should not expect anything from you in return, not even love. I am tired of being the healer, of being your mistress. I want you to leave behind your past, your dysfunctional family. Come and stay with me. You must choose now, or else let me talk to your wife." Marie's words seemed to have taken Joshua by surprise. But no, that can't be true. He could not have been that naive. He knew what Marie wanted. She had waited for all these years hoping that Joshua will leave his family and come over to her forever. But that hadn't happened. Yes, Joshua could gladly leave his wife, but he couldn't live without the two little kids he had with her. "How could Marie even think that I will ever leave the kids?" wondered Joshua as he lit his cigarette. Wasn't it clear to Marie that their relationship could never be anything more than what it had always been? -A relationship whose very existence depended on the complete lack of expectation of it evolving into something bigger. Joshua thought that they both knew it from the very beginning. Perhaps the woman in Marie knew it too, but had never been able to accept it.

Joshua went to the bedroom. Marie was lying under the soft white sheets and watching an Animal Planet documentary on TV about sexual cannibalism in the insect world. Joshua snuggled up to her. She seemed to have cooled down. He caressed her hand, and kissed her. He reached out for the remote control and increased the volume.

Watch how the male praying mantis slowly climbs up on the female's back and then proceeds to mate. The mating can continue for several hours in some species.

Marie's sighs were barely audible. Those were the sighs of both pleasure and pain; physical pleasure and emotional pain. The bed rocked gently with the sighs.

While the procreation is still in progress, the female attacks the partner and devours its head. A greenish fluid exudes from the opening left by the male's head. Researchers believe that since copulatory movements in the mantis are controlled by the ganglion in the abdomen, the mating continues even after the male has lost his head.

Joshua wasn't looking at Marie anymore, he paid no attention to her kisses, whispers, and her pleas. He was watching the hideous drama unfolding on the TV screen. Without a warning the female mantis lashed out to devour its partner. The headless male mantis still remained on top of its female. Caught between the raptorial legs of the female, the helpless male had little chance to escape.

When the mating is complete, the headless male mantis may try to escape but the female grasps it firmly.

"So much like humans," thought Joshua, who was feeling light in his head. Like the headless mantis he too was trying to free himself from Marie's embrace. The violence unfolding on the screen was the violence that has always existed and will continue to exist throughout the animal kingdom. This is the violence of orgasm, of conception, of birth, of domination, of death -the violence that is necessary for the very existence of life. It is the violence needed to ensure the perpetuity of species and for securing a better future for progeny. "Can a father be expected to desert his children for his mistress?" No. "Is violence justified to protect family and children?" Yes.

The male mantis is destined to be a female's meal.

With the speed of a female mantis lunging for its mate, Joshua picked up the pillow and held it tightly over Marie's face. She fought back, scratched him and wriggled under his weight. But it was all over very soon. Joshua shook off Marie's lifeless arms and legs from his back. He had been able to do what the male mantis couldn't -he had freed himself.

Post coital cannibalism is found in other insects as well. In some species one partner actually sacrifices its life. For example, the black widow spider too devours its male partner, but their courtship ritual is even more elaborate than the praying mantis'.

Joshua felt dizzy and confused; he got out of the bed and stood before the mirror. In it he saw Marie lying under the ruffled white sheet, her silver necklace with the little cross pendant lay on top of it. She appeared to be peacefully asleep. But Joshua wished that she would open her eyes and rise up, then call him near and forgive him for all his sins. Perhaps she already had. After all hadn't she always said that she would gladly sacrifice herself for him? The TV set droned on softly, a black widow was busy impaling its mate. All of a sudden time seemed to have stopped ticking, nothing could ever be the same anymore. It was as if the world had silently turned around. Joshua needed some time to think over the entire matter. He went out to the balcony for a smoke.