Get To Know Matriphagi: A Unique Phenomenon Of The Parent's Sacrifice

YOGYAKARTA - Some time ago, netizens were shocked by the phenomenon of a parent group who sacrificed themselves for their recently born children. A video uploaded by the Instagram account @viralyout*** on Tuesday (17/6/2025), shows a parent group being eaten by their own child until it is not left. From this phenomenon, netizens know matriphage.

"The wife offered to be the first food for her children, this behavior is called matriphage," explained the explanation in the video statement.

The upload invited many comments from netizens who were curious about the behavior of the animal matriphage. Some also felt sorry for the parent group.

"Ud was pregnant, she was born, when she was born she was eaten by her own child," tweeted @aaaila ***.

"He prefers to be food instead of babyblues," wrote the account @cook.adood ***.

What is matriphage behavior? Check out the full review below.

Veterinarians from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Slamet Raharjo, revealed that the origin of the term matriphage or matriphage comes from Latin, namely "matri" or "matter" which means mother, as well as "phagy" or "phaga" which means eating.

literally, explains Slamet, matriphagy means eating the mother.

"In the animal world, this behavior occurs when the mother deliberately sacrifices herself to be eaten by her cubs, usually during the first meal period after hatching," he said.

He explained that this extreme behavior is considered a form of evolutionary sacrifice that aims to fulfill the nutritional intake of the club's children at the beginning of their lives. This is done to increase the survival chances of the species. Slamet also added that the phenomenon of matriphage is not only experienced by clitang.

"This kind of behavior is also found in groups of other carnivorous insects such astegers, pseudoscorpion, spiders, and the like," he said.

Reporting from National Geographic, the phenomenon of matriphage or child behavior that preys on its mother may sound extreme and rare, but it turns out that it has been recorded in various groups of animals.

Jo-Anne Sewlal of the Zoological Society of London explained that this behavior has been observed in several species of nematode worms, insects, and several types of arachnids.

"Although constitutionally it sounds impossible for a child to eat his mother, matriphagy is an evolutionary strategy that is very efficient to ensure the survival of the species," Sewlal said.

In the animal world, the mother's sacrifice is not just a tragedy, but part of a life cycle that is indeed programmed naturally. One dramatic example we can see from Stegodyphus dumicola, a social spider that lives in South Africa.

This species resides in a large colony that shares the nest and the responsibility of care.

However, there are only about 40 percent of females who have succeeded in reproductive because their growth rate is slower than males. The non-proliferating females, known as virgin females, still have an important role.

They take care of the children of their female relatives. When the eggs hatch, both the mother and the virgin start producing the high nutritional liquid they give to the children by mouth. However, this process runs with consequences.

This liquid production is so tiring that the female body slowly begins to degrade, explains Anja Junghanns, an evolutionary biologist from Greifswald University, Germany, who is one of the authors of this spider study.

When the mother runs out of all her energy reserves, emotionally her children will rise to her body and start eating her alive. An absolute sacrifice to keep the next generation alive, even though it must be redeemed at a very expensive price.

That's the review of articles in getting to know matrifagi. Hopefully this information will be useful! Visit VOI.id to get other interesting information.