did you know?

LeilaNami

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
2,164
There's actually a website out dedicated to making a scorp kill itself. I think they used C. vittatus as the example. Alcohol was one experiment but no result. I think in the end was the hot mustard or at least a combonation of that and being harassed.
 

Aillith

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
52
I fail to see why a scorpion in any situation would sting itself to death. Suicide is completely opposite the natural survival instinct
 

kahoy

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
859
i think the one who 1st discovered that was under the effects of alcohol...

:D
 

xVOWx

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
235
How about you pour concentrated Acid on yourself and stab yourself to death. Try that and let me know the outcome. I'm sure it will please me :)
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
 

Michiel

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
May 22, 2006
Messages
3,478
Suicide is a human invention, remember "the struggle for life, survival of the fittest"? It would be foolish for an animal to commit suicide.......
I treated a scorpion once with alcohol (wodka 40%), I dabbed a mycosis spot to kill the fungae and stop it from further growing. The scorpion, in reaction to the wodka, twitched it leg a couple of times and showed no further signs of reaction.
 

John Bokma

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
486
Suicide is a human invention
Suicide as humans do it, with all feelings etc. involved is probably indeed something that humans can do. It's not a human invention otherwise sex would also be a human invention.

However also note that there are various species in which the animal stops with day to day behavior and dies because of this after it has been exposed to a lot of stress.

It would be foolish for an animal to commit suicide.......
See above. You probably can't call it committing suicide, because most animals don't have all the feelings, emotions, etc. that a human has, but animals do stop living after having been exposed to a lot of stress.

And it's silly to drag "survival of the fittest" and natural instinct into this like it's some rigid law. Suicide does happen in humans, and since humans are part of nature it's natural. It's not some modern gimmick or something humans invented 3000 years ago.
 
Last edited:

~Abyss~

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
2,980
Suicide as humans do it, with all feelings etc. involved is probably indeed something that humans can do. It's not a human invention otherwise sex would also be a human invention.

However also note that there are various species in which the animal stops with day to day behavior and dies because of this after it has been exposed to a lot of stress.


See above. You probably can't call it committing suicide, because most animals don't have all the feelings, emotions, etc. that a human has, but animals do stop living after having been exposed to a lot of stress.

And it's silly to drag "survival of the fittest" and natural instinct into this like it's some rigid law. Suicide does happen in humans, and since humans are part of nature it's natural. It's not some modern gimmick or something humans invented 3000 years ago.
I agree with this but I've only heard of this happening to complex mammals, such as dogs. A scorpion has no feelings and the stress it endures is mearly physical.
 

EAD063

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
1,415
So could we say suicide is an emotional response to an overly stressful enviroment? Where as in death from stress can be seen as a physical response to an overly stressful envrioment... ie. bad keeping. Similar in relation to how our body reacts when it becomes hypothermic, which I assume is basically the bodies response to a stressful evrioment and thus an invoulentary death occurs.
 

John Bokma

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
486
I have no idea. What's an emotional response? Birds as far as I know might start removing their feathers from their body when in an overly stressful environment. If a human does the same it's called self harm. I doubt you can call a dog dying a week after its owner died bad keeping, but is it an emotional response? I have no idea were the line is drawn or where it should be drawn.

Also I wouldn't call suicide in general a voluntary death. The behavior happens due to circumstances, which for a part might be caused by a (part of) the brain working differently. Without those circumstances the person wouldn't commit suicide, like the aforementioned birds wouldn't pull their feathers out.
 
Last edited:

John Bokma

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
486
I agree with this but I've only heard of this happening to complex mammals, such as dogs.
There is a movie on chimps which has a part were the young chimp, even though it can already eat by itself, stops living shortly after the mother died. And I am sure people know stories about cats and dogs who died either shortly after their owner died, or a companion.

Not sure if this is limited to complex mammals, I do know that birds start pulling feathers out when exposed to too much stress, but maybe (some) birds can also be considered complex animals.
 

~Abyss~

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
2,980
I didn't know about the feather thing. But i suppose a bird is still more complex than a scorp.
 

John Bokma

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
486
I didn't know about the feather thing. But i suppose a bird is still more complex than a scorp.
No doubt about that. On the other hand it's fascinating (well to me) how complex (to me) their mating behavior is.
 

tony77tony77

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
May 28, 2006
Messages
289
I read about it somewhere but i never try it. :liar: :liar: :liar: :liar: :liar:
 

nuclear_zombies

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
83
Im going with IHeartMantids and parabuthus on this......this is an asinine thread.
Have most of you considered sticking to the appropriate topic? (scorpions) This crap isnt even fit for the watering hole:mad:
 
Top