Talk:Mantis/@comment-29564364-20170220172332/@comment-10429980-20170420153925

That's something of a myth actually. Some mantis species are more cannibalistic than others, and even then killing during/after mating happens mostly in captivity rather than the wild (scientist found that having human observers also seemed to produce some kind of stress in the mantises, as when they were filmed mating with no humans in the room the male pretty much always survived).

Many mantises also have elaborate courtship dances, apparently intended to communicate to the female that he is a mate and not food.