Feeding a Tiger Centipede to a Warrior Beetle

furball677

Arachnosquire
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Thought it was cool how easily the warrior beetle decimated the centipede. This was my pet warrior beetle (Pasimachus). These two species probably encounter each other all the time in nature.
 
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dragonfire1577

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These beetles are little beasts my captive bred male just tackled a roach about his own size no problem and I have no doubt they handle small centipedes loke this all the time. Mine just clamped down on its head and it was headless a few minutes later lol.
 

Xenodamus

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Yeah, I agree with Toxo, Predatory species are the most amazing Fauna on Earth to me, and to feed one to another purposefully like this, just seems like risking an envenomation of your pet for absolutely no reason other than supposed "entertainment".
 

ErinM31

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These beetles have tough exoskeletons and I doubt there was much risk in feeding it a centipede this size.

While I am against animal sport fighting, these beetles, like tarantulas, are not only obligate carnivores but require live prey. How is it more wrong to feed it a small common centipede than a cricket, cockroach or mealworm?
 

Xenodamus

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Still a chance for an envenomation. Did you see where the S. polymorpha went almost straight to, trying to bite? Common prey items for them have very tough exo's and they instinctively search out for a weak spot to bite.
 

Toxoderidae

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These beetles have tough exoskeletons and I doubt there was much risk in feeding it a centipede this size.

While I am against animal sport fighting, these beetles, like tarantulas, are not only obligate carnivores but require live prey. How is it more wrong to feed it a small common centipede than a cricket, cockroach or mealworm?
Because centipedes are so much more intelligent and advanced compared to most inverts, so this is cruel compared to a cricket that can't feel/really understand what's going on.
 

ErinM31

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Still a chance for an envenomation. Did you see where the S. polymorpha went almost straight to, trying to bite? Common prey items for them have very tough exo's and they instinctively search out for a weak spot to bite.
True, it did go for the beetle's weakest spot but the fact that it found no purchase even here underscores how well-armored these beetles are. I do not mean to seem to advocate feeding potentially dangerous food to one's pets and perhaps a larger centipede or another species would have been successful and when one finds that out, it is too late. It is fair to point out that it was a risk but I felt that the magnitude of the reaction to the video was stronger than was called for.

Because centipedes are so much more intelligent and advanced compared to most inverts, so this is cruel compared to a cricket that can't feel/really understand what's going on.
Where did you get this information? If there is a study or article or something, I would love to read it. I ask not to challenge you, but from genuine curiosity. I did some cursory searches on Google but did not find anything truly informative on the matter. Myriapods are believed to be the first animals on land, but that does not say whether or not they would have remained relatively primitive or evolved even while keeping the same form. However, I did not see anything to indicate whether centipedes are more or less intelligent than other arthropods in general or even predatory arthropods specifically. I am not denigrating centipedes by any means but simply seek to evaluate this rationally.
 
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BobBarley

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Because centipedes are so much more intelligent and advanced compared to most inverts, so this is cruel compared to a cricket that can't feel/really understand what's going on.
There is no real scientific evidence that centipedes have the capability to comprehend in that way. Sure they are able to be "tamed", but they aren't at a point where I'd personally call them "intelligent" without some real scientific backing. We could go into a debate over what's cruel and uncruel, but from my perspective, things like this happen in the wild often. An argument could even be made that it's cruel to NOT feed the Pasimachus a centipede, because the Pasimachus would normally come into contact with centipedes in the wild (though I, personally do not agree with that argument either).
Where did you get this information? If there is a study or article or something, I would love to read it. I ask not to challenge you, but from genuine curiosity. I did some cursory searches on Google but did not find anything truly informative on the matter. Myriapods are believed to be the first animals on land, but that does not say whether or not they would have remained relatively primitive or evolved even while keeping the same form. However, I did not see anything to indicate whether centipedes are more or less intelligent than other arthropods in general or even predatory arthropods specifically. I am not denigrating centipedes by any means but simply seek to evaluate this rationally.
He's talking about the recent postings of centipede handlings in the myriapods section. @Mastigoproctus can shed some light on that subject, and I find it very interesting and enlightening.
Such a shame to see a beautiful little predator killed.
FYI, I agreed with this post, because it is a beautiful little predator, and it's a shame to see it die, I just wouldn't say this video is cruel. To me it's just a feeding video.
 

ErinM31

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There is no real scientific evidence that centipedes have the capability to comprehend in that way. Sure they are able to be "tamed", but they aren't at a point where I'd personally call them "intelligent" without some real scientific backing. We could go into a debate over what's cruel and uncruel, but from my perspective, things like this happen in the wild often. An argument could even be made that it's cruel to NOT feed the Pasimachus a centipede, because the Pasimachus would normally come into contact with centipedes in the wild (though I, personally do not agree with that argument either).

He's talking about the recent postings of centipede handlings in the myriapods section. @Mastigoproctus can shed some light on that subject, and I find it very interesting and enlightening.
Thank you, @BobBarley and you are exactly right. :) A centipede becoming accustomed to a stimulus is not at all the same as being "tamed" or even a demonstration of "intelligence" beyond which is common to all animals. Specifically, it is habituation, i.e., the form of learning in which an organism ceases to respond to a stimulus after repeated presentations. Most (all?) animals are capable of both habituation and sensitization, including snails and worms, which have demonstrated classic examples of these paradigms.
 

basin79

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There is no real scientific evidence that centipedes have the capability to comprehend in that way. Sure they are able to be "tamed", but they aren't at a point where I'd personally call them "intelligent" without some real scientific backing. We could go into a debate over what's cruel and uncruel, but from my perspective, things like this happen in the wild often. An argument could even be made that it's cruel to NOT feed the Pasimachus a centipede, because the Pasimachus would normally come into contact with centipedes in the wild (though I, personally do not agree with that argument either).

He's talking about the recent postings of centipede handlings in the myriapods section. @Mastigoproctus can shed some light on that subject, and I find it very interesting and enlightening.

FYI, I agreed with this post, because it is a beautiful little predator, and it's a shame to see it die, I just wouldn't say this video is cruel. To me it's just a feeding video.
I never typed the video is cruel.

Being new-ish here (although I signed up 3 years ago I didn't post) I haven't introduced myself.

I'm a massive hypocrite.

I love pedes. They're a pet to ME not live food. They're also a predator which is also a big deal to ME. So I don't like seeing them getting chewed up. Just like I enjoy eating chicken but would be outraged if someone tried feeding me a bird of prey. They're both a bird. No real difference.

A shop selling frozen kittens/cats and puppies/dogs for snakes. Mammals just like rats and rabbits. I'd be outraged as to me they're pets.

I could go on showing you just how much of a massive hypocrite I am but I think you get the point.

It's just videos like the OP posted are basically "my dad could have your dad". Showing one predator killing another. It's not for anything else apart from some odd form of showing off. Everybody look what my beetle killed, a tiger centipede. It's badass right? Yeah.
 

chanda

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I'm a massive hypocrite.

I love pedes. They're a pet to ME not live food. They're also a predator which is also a big deal to ME. So I don't like seeing them getting chewed up. Just like I enjoy eating chicken but would be outraged if someone tried feeding me a bird of prey. They're both a bird. No real difference.

A shop selling frozen kittens/cats and puppies/dogs for snakes. Mammals just like rats and rabbits. I'd be outraged as to me they're pets.
You've hit the nail on the head for me, too. I'm a terrible hypocrite when it comes to what I consider suitable food for my pets (or myself) and what fits into the non-edible "pet" category. Feeding videos or demonstrations are cool. Anybody who keeps inverts probably appreciates the swift and savage takedown of a feeder cricket or roach. I know my students absolutely love watching one of my tarantulas or centipedes tackle their prey. That said, I have strong biases when it comes to determining which creatures are "food" and which are not.

I have two tiger centipedes as pets and would never consider feeding one (even a non-pet wild one) to one of my other pets. For me, centipedes fall well within the "pet" category. A while back I caught a small black-headed snake (Tantilla hobartsmithi). I was really tempted to keep it, but one of the deciding factors for me in releasing it back into the wild was that centipedes are a large part of its normal diet. While I have no problem at all feeding frozen/thawed mice or rat pups to my gopher snake, I would have a much harder time feeding centipedes to this little snake. (Also, frozen mice are much easier to get than live centipedes!)

For me, aside from the personal squeamishness that arises from seeing a "pet" species used as food, my reservations relate to the population ratios. Prey animals - whether crickets or roaches or mice or rabbits or deer - have much larger wild populations than do the predator species that feed on them. Killing off one prey animal (or even a dozen or so) does not significantly alter the overall population dynamic. Killing off even a few of the predators, though, can cause the whole system to become unbalanced. Do I think you've upset the balance of nature by feeding off one centipede? Of course not! That would be ridiculous. Predators do die all the time, whether they are eaten by even larger predators or die of other causes. I just have a strong reservation about intentionally killing predators because they are fewer and farther between, whereas the "prey" animals are much more plentiful.
 

Xenodamus

Arachnopeon
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I don't think it's "cruel", just unnecessary and to differing extents-irresponsible. Much like people feeding adult, or even weanling live mice to T's. I have no qualms with it-other than risking serious injury/death to the T.
 

basin79

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I don't think it's "cruel", just unnecessary and to differing extents-irresponsible. Much like people feeding adult, or even weanling live mice to T's. I have no qualms with it-other than risking serious injury/death to the T.
But why not just tap the rodent on the head? That dies instantly and the T still gets a treat. There's absolutely no need to feed live rodents to any invert.
 

Xenodamus

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Severely stunned prey would be equivalent to prekilled IMO, I was mainly talking about live, kicking, biting mice.
 

basin79

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Severely stunned prey would be equivalent to prekilled IMO, I was mainly talking about live, kicking, biting mice.
Yes I know. But you typed your only qualm was the possibility of the rodent injuring the T. Where I'm against it for the fact there's absolutely no need to cause a rodent to suffer by feeding it to a T live in the first place.
 
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