Sexual Cannibalism: Blood LustBiology 342 Fall 2012by Ben Goggin and Kata Martin |
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Sexual CannibalismSexual Cannibalism is a behavior exhibited primarily by insects and arachnids, where one partner (usually the female) kills the other before, during or after copulation. In some species cannibalism involves ingestion of the killed animal, while in others cannibalism simply refers to the murder of the same species. The behavior has been intriguing to many scientists not only because of it’s sensational and violent nature, but also because of it’s apparent maladaptive value for the partner that is killed and questionable value for the killer.
Each question allows the study of a certain behavior from a different level of biological science.
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