Crunchy Amblypygid ??

[tarantulauren]

I was woken up tonight by a sound of crunching, thinking it was my cat until I saw him asleep. Soon realized it was coming from the cage of my tailless whip scorpion, I got kind of freaked out because it was pretty loud and I’ve never heard her make any noise before. I figured maybe she was molting particularly loudly or something but I looked inside and she was just chilling there as usual. I’ve had her for years and i’ve never heard her make a sound but i looked it up and apparently they can chirp by rubbing their antenniform legs together?? Has anyone experienced anything similar? The sound was like crunching, not continuously but it kept starting and stopping.

 

[Tbone192]

What is the species? And have you confirmed the gender of the animal? Could've also been chewing a molt or something and dropped it when it felt movement directed towards it. They are crazy good at picking up vibrations so I wouldn't be too shocked

 

[tarantulauren]

What is the species? And have you confirmed the gender of the animal? Could've also been chewing a molt or something and dropped it when it felt movement directed towards it. They are crazy good at picking up vibrations so I wouldn't be too shocked

Female Damon diadema. This is definitely one of the most confusing moments i’ve experienced because I just witnessed her making this noise again except this time I looked in her enclosure with a light. No molt, nothing in her mouth, her mouthparts weren’t even moving but the noise consisted. I also feed her in a separate enclosure so there’s no way it could be a random prey item. Could it be she’s that she’s about to molt and her exoskeleton is like loosening up or something ??? I’m sooo confused

 

[Tbone192]

That is truly a mystery, I've been trying to find more information on the topic but can't find anything regarding crunching sounds. Maybe she is gravid and about to lay ? Either way if she is happy and healthy, I guess there is no need to worry. Keep this thread updated if there are any developments.

 

[catboyeuthanasia]

Very cool behavior! I read that male amblypygids make noises to attract a female to mate with, but not the other way around. It would be worth it to get a recording and send it to some of the authors who wrote papers like this:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0044523104700698

COURTSHIP AND SPERM TRANSFER IN THE WHIP SPIDER PHRYNUS GERVAISII (AMBLYPYGI, PHRYNIDAE): A COMPLEMENT TO WEYGOLDT'S 1977 PAPER

The aim of this study was to provide descriptive and quantitative data regarding behaviors involved in courtship and in sperm transfer of the whip spider Phrynus gervaisii (Pocock 1894) in order to complete the previous description for this same species given by P. Weygoldt. The specimens were...

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