Did you know that when mayflies mate, the male sends pheromones into the air and when a female accepts his receptors, he senses the changes and rewrites his brain, destroying the receptors that activate his pheromones? The female’s brain does the same, shutting down her own receptors. If one of them is killed prior to copulation, both sets of DNA will never be passed on.1
When mayflies love, they mate so intensely they can never love again.
The brain of a male praying mantis starts shutting down immediately after mating. While he still has control over his body, he carefully flips over, offering his tender belly to his mate, who then dotingly begins to cut into his stomach, slicing him into small bites, spooning him bit by bit into her mouth. She devours every part of him. This happens so when their children emerge, she’ll have something to feed them.2
I could never let anyone do that for me. So here’s a better idea:
Let’s use the remainder of our lives to commit petty crimes. We’ll give wrong directions to strangers. We’ll cover the streets with litter. We’ll speed at every opportunity. And we’ll pray that reincarnation is real. We’ll pray that all our injustices will be enough for us to be reborn as lesser creatures. We’ll pray that we are reborn as insects so we can love one another the way we can’t love now.
Disclaimer: Some insect mating rituals are straight up terrifying. Take our chances?
Semelparity is a reproductive strategy characterized by death after first reproduction. Basically, mating once in a lifetime. In species like mayflies or alates that face unpredictable environments, limited resources, high mortality, or short lifespans, natural selection may favor concentrated, intense reproductive effort to maximize reproductive success.
Sexual cannibalization is a known reproductive strategy explained by nutritional benefit and increased reproductive success. However, I took some creative liberties here. There is no evidence to suggest male praying mantids willingly sacrifice themselves; in fact, 4 in 5 male praying mantids escape cannibalism after mating.