A Praying Mantis and The Proverbial Harlot

Our teaching pastor, Ryan Kelly, just passed this along to the guys on staff. It is well worth your read:

What Annie Dillard says of the Female Praying Mantis:

“…the female [praying mantis] will mate with and devour up to seven males, whether she has laid her egg cases or not. The mating rites of mantises are well known: a chemical produced in the head of he male insect says, in effect, ‘No, don’t go near her, you fool, she’ll eat you alive.’ At the same time a chemical in his abdomen says, ‘Yes, by all means, now and forever yes.’

“While the male is making up what passes for his mind, the female tips the balance in her favor by eating his head. He mounts her. Fabre describes the mating, which sometimes lasts for six hours, as follows: “The male, absorbed in the performance of his vital functions, holds the female in a tight embrace. But the wretch has no head; he has no neck; he has hardly a body. The other, with her muzzle turned over her shoulder continues very placidly to gnaw what remains of the gentle swain. And, all the time, that masculine stump, holding on firmly, goes on with the business! … I have seen it done with my own eyes and have not yet recovered from my astonishment.”

[Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974), pp. 57-58]

What Proverbs says of the Harlot:

Proverbs 6:25-28 - Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, 26 for the harlot reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?

Proverbs 7:21-23 - With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. 22 All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose 23 till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.

Proverbs 7:26-27 - Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. 27 Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.

(HT: Fire and Knowledge)