You might wonder why the male even bothers. However, his genes will live on in a whole new generation, the embryos growing with nourishment from their father's body. To avoid being eaten by the female, they present her with insects to snack on during sex. Some wrap the meal in silken threads so they can inseminate the female before she is finished eating. Although that may seem like a dirty trick, females of the Photinus genus of fireflies play an even nastier trick.
Fireflies attract a mate by flashing a signal that is specific to their species.
However, the female Photinus flashes the signals of other species. The males will land, thinking they will mate with a female of their own species. They realize too late that they have become Photinus food. Insects have to worry about more than being eaten. They also have to make sure that their sperm, not another male's, fertilize the female's eggs.