Sexual cannibalism, the consumption of the male by the female during or after courtship or copulation, occurs in many predatory arthropods, including praying mantids. In this study, we ask a mechanistic behavioral question about mantids: how does a male come to be with a cannibalistic female? Through two field experiments, we address mate attraction via female-emitted pheromones in a native mantid, Stagmomantis limbata. Gas chromatography points to pheromones containing the chemical tetradecanal. In the field, males alighted on covered cages that contained well-fed females only. These results argue against two hypotheses concerning mate location in this species: "Visual search," wherein males locate females using visual stimuli alone, and "Female foraging," wherein food-limited females emit pheromones to lure in and attack males. Thus, we conclude that female S. limbata emit pheromones for long-distance attraction of males, and that pheromone emission is dependent on the female's nutritional status. Two working hypotheses concerning the expression of sexual cannibalism remain viable. The first is "Fatal mate", which posits that relatively well-fed females emit pheromones, and then attack males at some stage in the sexual encounter. The second is "Poaching" by poorly-fed females that do not emit pheromones, but may intercept males that are attracted to the pheromones of other conspecific females. The present study additionally reveals temporal effects on pheromone use in this species. Results strongly suggest a diurnal effect, as the period between sunrise and mid-morning was preferential for male arrival. No obvious effect of lunar phase was detected.