How much the females eat is not just an academic issue.

The males do this because females will eat the eggs right after spawning if the male does not run her off.

Even then the female will most likely eat her first 2-4 spawns of fry.

It is possible, he said, that females eat their mates simply because they mistake them for prey.

For the thirty days it takes to grow the fully developed egg the female must eat three times her normal amount of food.

However, the female does not eat her mate.

But he knew the females would eat their own mates.

In this experience, the female does not eat, drinks lots of water, and holds her wings droopingly.

The female will not eat towards this culmination and dies shortly thereafter.

In rare instances, females may eat the males after copulation.