Sexual Cannibalism: Blood LustBiology 342 Fall 2012by Ben Goggin and Kata Martin |
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Ontogeny : The question of ‘ontogeny’ or ‘development’ describes how the behavior develops, including genetic and environmental influencesThis aspect of behavior is rarely studied in respect to sexual cannibalism. Instead many studies have chosen to study the environmental influences that interact with the genetic predisposition for the behavior, affecting the circumstances in which the behavior is performed.In some species sexual cannibalism occurs very often and seems to be a permanent fixture of the animals behavior, such as in the dune scorpian (see mechanism). Few studies have been done on the development of this behavior simply because it appears to be a result of the lack of ability to distinguish between a potential mate and prey. In other species, though, the behavior of sexual cannibalism is onset by environmental factors or certain states that the animal is in. In the Giant Asian Mantis (Hierodula membranacea), for instance, sexual cannibalism varies by food availability (Birkhead et al 1988). In a study by Birkhead, Lee and Young (1988) mantids were kept at various states of hunger, mated, and then rates of sexual cannibalism and ootheca (and egg mass containing many eggs surrounded by a protein foam) size were recorded. The highest rates of sexual cannibalism occurred in mantids kept in a low-food high hunger state. Among this group those who cannibalized had larger ootheca resulting in more offspring.
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