The female of the white-faced Decticus will eagerly devour the body of her dead mate, as will the Green Grasshopper.
To a certain extent this custom is excused by the nature of the insect's diet; the Decticus and the Grasshopper are essentially carnivorous.
Encountering a dead body of their own species, a female will devour it, even if it be the body of her latest mate.
But what are we to say in palliation of the vegetarians?
At the approach of the breeding season, before the eggs are laid, the Ephippigera turns upon her still living mate, disembowels him, and eats as much of him as her appetite will allow.
The cheerful Cricket shows herself in a new light at this season; she attacks the mate who lately wooed her with such impassioned serenades; she tears his wings, breaks his musical thighs, and even swallows a few mouthfuls of the instrumentalist.

It is probable that this deadly aversion of the female for the male at the end of the mating season is fairly common, especially among the carnivorous insects.

But what is the object of this atrocious custom?
That is a question I shall not fail to answer when circumstances permit..