ID spider from Fear Factor

[Seink]

There's this spider that pple were forced to eat in Fear Factor

I have been googling and got nothing relevant about these species. Can anyone id them and post some info links about them.In fear factor they are just "african cave dwelling spiders".They look like a hybrid of crab and stick insect to me....

 

[cryptly]

It's not a spider, tho it is an arachnid. It's a tailless whipscorpion, Damon variegatus to be exact.

Great little critters, very interesting and fun to watch. I've got a pair of them.

http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/D-variegatus.html
http://www.spidershoppe.com/pdf/amblypygid.pdf

 

[Midnightcowboy]

Reading the interview I'm glad she got bit. ;P

"They felt kind'a rough and they had those long tentacles. They had the little claws like crayfish, and the little mouth that just chomped."
This does make me think it wasn't actually a spider, but rather one of the tailess whip scorpions. That and if you look at the pic it has the same gangly looking legs as they do.

One day some idiot will get bit by a spider or stung by a scorpion on that show and have a bad allergic reaction to the venom on TV. Imagine what that would do to our hobby, as if

Reading the list of other "stunts" that are viewed as positive achievements :? , I see there is one where someone is covered in 500 tarantulas. WHY DO THEY USE ROSIES? Throw the b*stard in with a couple of hundred OBT's! Spice it up a bit!

But on a serious note, I've never seen this show, and am not usually one for protesting for animal rights, but this show looks like it needs serious investigation by the animal rights authorities. Obviously we are the minority and realistically no one gives a crap about some spiders, but the thing that really shocked me were the stunts involving reptiles. I don't keep any reptiles, but from what I've read many of them are susceptible to stress, and what could be more stressful for another reptile than "sitting in a box with hundreds of angry geckos and slithering snakes" Now even reptiles don't seem to be cared about by the public or the animal rights authorities, but I'm sure something could be done to stop this stuff from going on. I know that they're not cute and fluffy (well in my opinion spiders are ) but animal cruelty is animal cruelty, and as far as I'm concerned this show needs to be shut down.

 

[CedrikG]

this is a stupid show, no idea what they are eating ...

 

[Snakecharm]

Well, here's my thing. I notice that in talking about both the bugs and the reptiles, they keep raving about the smell. Spiders and mad. hissing roaches don't smell. Reptiles usually don't have a discernable odor unless they've been marinating on their own waste. So are they just smelling the stink of their own fear or what?

 

[Hedorah99]

Its not so much that I am afraid to eat an arachnid while its still alive, I just don't want to. I think the show would be a lot more interesting if they ate Joe Rogan. There would be not only the Fear of eating a talentless hack actor (who ruined the Man Show and is the worst thing to happen to the UFC) but also the fear of going to jail. I also love how its not considered animal cruelty to do that on fear factor, but someone ate some rats on survivor and PETA went nuts.

 

[Seink]

WOW..........

The show actually mistakes a scorpion for a spider? That's unbelievable.......considering the fact that they don't bother to get their facts right, i don't think they show cares about reptile stresses and animal abuses........

in regards to the show, if u look at it rationally,they r actually pushing the edge of human abuses too. make pple do crazy <EDIT> in return for large sums of money.....

however, i have to admit that i like the show.......watching people eat stuff like cow's penises, live scorpions and drink mealworm/roaches milkshake willingly is just something too stupid/good to miss.....

 

[Becca]

Personally I think that paticular show is ridiculous, they whine and whine so much about doing these so called 'stunts' in my opinion they should just not bother. I personally don't find it entertaining... It's amazing how idiotic people will become for a bag of money.

 

[Czalz]

Personally I think that paticular show is ridiculous, they whine and whine so much about doing these so called 'stunts' in my opinion they should just not bother. I personally don't find it entertaining... It's amazing how idiotic people will become for a bag of money.

Ditto

 

[Prewt]

Its not so much that I am afraid to eat an arachnid while its still alive, I just don't want to. I think the show would be a lot more interesting if they ate Joe Rogan.

Lmao, great idea!!!
IMO, its just not right to eat our food ' live ', , but some people still do. Just remember, if the animal is still alive, it can and will fight back.
Some critter getting stuck in my throat and taking me with it isnt my idea of a good meal.

 

[bagheera]

Ah the "quality programming" that one misses--not owning a television.

 

[Imegnixs_Cinder]

Did anyone see the episode of this where they had to put live tarantulas in their mouths and hold them there? I don't know what species it was, but it was really horrible, they had a huge tank of T's all together, maybe about 20 of them, they were all fighting in there and the contestants had to pick them up and place them in their mouths for over a min. I was really waiting for someone to get bitten shame they didn't.

 

[Becca]

lol I just hope it was a new world t, urticating hairs on your tongue... yum yum

 

[odinn7]

I saw the Vegas episode with the supposed cave dwelling spiders. They certainly are tailess whip scorpions and I figure they called them African Cave Dwelling Spiders to make them seem more scary and also because they don't really look like scorpions to the general public. I watch the show from time to time because I like to see the stupidity of people and their total lack of dignity to do this stuff for 50 grand...it makes me feel better about myself.

Someone did make a good point earlier in this thread about that ridiculous PETA group and how they don't give a crap when it comes to the use of spiders, snakes, and scorpions on this show. Makes you really wonder about things.

 

[cacoseraph]

WOW..........

The show actually mistakes a scorpion for a spider? That's unbelievable.......considering the fact that they don't bother to get their facts right, i don't think they show cares about reptile stresses and animal abuses........

in regards to the show, if u look at it rationally,they r actually pushing the edge of human abuses too. make pple do crazy <EDIT> in return for large sums of money.....

however, i have to admit that i like the show.......watching people eat stuff like cow's penises, live scorpions and drink mealworm/roaches milkshake willingly is just something too stupid/good to miss.....

nah, you're thinking of japanese television

in U.S. a show couldn't be underwritten (like, insured) if there was even a reasonable CHANCE of a contestant being injured.

as far as i know, you can't sign away your right to suit in U.S. so those shows HAVE to be safe... it's just most ppl don't know that

 

[Jmadson13]

If it were my choice I'd feed whoever thought of this show to spiders.

 

[AfterTheAsylum]

I have one. I was pissed when I saw that cos I wanted one for so long. They are Amblypigids. Coolest, not to forget - strangest, things on earth. Tailless scorpions. They have two long legs that reach up to 1.5 feet and a body the maxes out around 2 inches. They have "arms" like ours. They have these biceps, elbows, forearms and hands (claws). The forearms and biceps are littered, and I mean LITTERED, with spikes. You need to have one to appreciate it. Keep it in your hand for a bit and you wil smile and laugh in fascination.

PS. I think it is funny when they are like, "WE ARE GOING TO COVER YOU IN TARANTULAS!" then they have some Avicularia crawling on someone's head. I would love to do that!... Now if they were Stromatopelma calceatum, Heteroscodra maculata, Poeky's or Citharischius crawshayi... then I'd think twice. Imagine that!

 

[Stracs-arachs]

Ok???

With all due respect:

Ok, I know everyone is upset with the fact that there were whip-scorpions put to death by humans on a TV show, but come on........you wouldnt for $50,000......or even $100,000 for that matter. Maybe I am the only one paying bills and a mortgage in here ......but I doubt it. Seriously how many were killed.......three at most??? Get real for a second .......I think that the whip-scorpion population is doing just fine.

I love arachnids just like everyone else in here but $50,000 is $50,000. Do you know how many T's you can get with that kind of money!!!!! LOL

 

[WYSIWYG]

Let me know if I'm reading this right....

You're saying it's ok to do mean things to bugs for money, because hey, you got a mortgage to pay?!?

So "only" 3 were killed, for nothing more than "entertainment" purposes and "shock value" and this sits well with you?

What other unethical things would you be willing to do just to make a few bucks to pay your bills? I gotta wonder after reading this post of yours.

I remember several years ago, when it was first exposed about how cosmetics companies were treating rabbits -- forcing their eyes to stay open and pinning them so they couldn't move, while things like hairspray was sprayed into their eyes, just to see the effects.

In that case, though their purpose was almost as stupid as what Fear Factor is doing with animals, there was enough of an outcry to try to put a stop to it. Nobody said "but it's only a few of them" and "well they gotta pay their bills."

Animal cruelty is animal cruelty, rather they be cute and cuddly or some other animal life form.

Doing sadistic things to them just because you need the money or because you want to shock people is just plain disgusting!

I guess some people really WILL do anything for money, which is a shame.

Oh but it's ok. Ya gotta pay the mortgage! *smirk*

When does this type of thinking stop?

To me, you either love the critters or you don't. It's not ok to encourage people to do stupid things with them just because they need the dough.

Wysi

With all due respect:

Ok, I know everyone is upset with the fact that there were whip-scorpions put to death by humans on a TV show, but come on........you wouldnt for $50,000......or even $100,000 for that matter. Maybe I am the only one paying bills and a mortgage in here ......but I doubt it. Seriously how many were killed.......three at most??? Get real for a second .......I think that the whip-scorpion population is doing just fine.

I love arachnids just like everyone else in here but $50,000 is $50,000. Do you know how many T's you can get with that kind of money!!!!! LOL

 

[nightbreed]

First, the bugs dont feel pain so I'm not sure its cruel (damn stupid, wasteful and it should be stopped, but not really cruel) and I for one am kind of glad PETA and the like dont give a damn about bugs, I really dont want the crazy >self edits< messing with our hobby.

The reptiles are a different story, not that I want PETA etc, to get involved with them either, (but their lack of involvement does highlight their hypocrisy)
I really cant believe shows like this can get away with this sort of thing, but if there are people stupid enough to watch and stupid enough to take part and as long as there are $$$$$ to be made its going to continue