Behavioural correlations and aggression in praying mantids

Are web stabilimenta attractive to praying mantids?

Certain species of orb-weavers add extra silk structures, termed a stabilimentum or web decoration, to their webs. In the genus Argiope stabilimenta are silken structures of densely woven zig-zag ribbons. The adaptive value of these stabilimenta is still unclear and controversially discussed. In the course of time, many functional hypotheses have been proposed for silk stabilimenta. Because of ...

Multimodal mate assessment by male praying mantids in a sexually cannibalistic mating system

Free-flight encounters between praying mantids (Parasphendale agrionina) and bats (Eptesicus fuscus).

Through staged free-flight encounters between echolocating bats and praying mantids, we examined the effectiveness of two potential predator-evasion behaviors mediated by different sensory modalities: (1) power dive responses triggered by bat echolocation detected by the mantis ultrasound-sensitive auditory system, and (2) ;last-ditch' maneuvers triggered by bat-generated wind detected by the m...

Female praying mantids use sexual cannibalism as a foraging strategy to increase fecundity

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of sexual cannibalism. The foraging strategy hypothesis states that sexual cannibalism may arise as an adaptive foraging strategy, providing females with the nutrients to increase future fecundity. Yet, very few studies have found that nourishment through cannibalism translates into increased fecundity. One explanation for this may ...

Aggression in children with behavioural/emotional difficulties: seeing aggression on television and video games

BACKGROUND Mental health professionals are often asked to give advice about managing children's aggression. Good quality evidence on contributory environmental factors such as seeing aggression on television and in video games is relatively lacking, although societal and professional concerns are high. This study investigated possible associations between seeing aggression in such media and the...