Meet Five Cannibal Animals that Eat Their Mates
- www.pixabay.com/CSITDMS
3. Green Anaconda
Anaconda Hijau
- U-Report
Green anacondas have a very interesting mating strategy that might end with one or more males being eaten. Female green anacondas are polyandrous and therefore will mate with multiple males. This is done in what is called a “breeding ball,” where sometimes more than 10 males gather on a female and compete with each other to find the cloaca so they can mate.
Breeding balls may last up to four weeks, by which time the female has most likely mated with many males. As is a trend in this list, female green anacondas are bigger and stronger than males. They have a long gestation period during which their movement is severely limited.
Therefore, by eating one or more of the males after mating, they gain the nutrients they need to successfully birth their offspring.
4. Jumping Spider
Laba-laba Joker.
- Live Science
In choosing a mate, the male must impress the female with dance moves. The male will jump up and down and wave his limbs around. At the same time, the male also creates a song by banging his body parts together. The song is quite amazing for humans to hear, as it tends to have different beats and verses.
If the female is impressed, she will mate with the male. But if not, the male will be eaten by the female.
5. Octopus
Gurita.
The octopus is known for its intelligence, but did you know that certain species are also cannibalistic? Males have a specially modified arm, called a hectocotylus, that is used to inject sperm packets into the female. When the males are done, the female octopus often eats the male.
Many species of male octopus die soon after mating anyway, so why not? Female octopuses protect their eggs and often die upon giving birth. Octopus cannibalism is not limited to just mating, however, as it is not uncommon for hatchlings to eat each other.
