How do centipedes sneak up on tarantulas?

Moakmeister

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A whole bunch of nature documentaries depict centipedes running right up to a tarantula and biting it and killing it. There's no strategy, they just charge right in and it works. Are tarantulas inattentive? Can't they tell the centipede is coming from like ten feet away?
 

Chris LXXIX

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Centipedes are strategy master, they are like skilled chess players. They calculate everything :-s
 

Chris LXXIX

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There's no strategy, they just charge right in and it works.
Seriously, aside for the fact that a charge is a strategy as well (like the crazy & desperate one that the Brits performed at Balaclava), why do you think there's no strategy? We are talking about ones of the most intelligent inverts ever :-s
 

basin79

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A whole bunch of nature documentaries depict centipedes running right up to a tarantula and biting it and killing it. There's no strategy, they just charge right in and it works. Are tarantulas inattentive? Can't they tell the centipede is coming from like ten feet away?
They're staged/set up so the T is in an unfamiliar setting. No silk down etcetera at a guess. That's how most programmes get the shots they want with inverts hunting.
 

Venom1080

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A whole bunch of nature documentaries depict centipedes running right up to a tarantula and biting it and killing it. There's no strategy, they just charge right in and it works. Are tarantulas inattentive? Can't they tell the centipede is coming from like ten feet away?
Tarantulas arent that good. a centipede will win 9/10 times with a similar sized tarantula, theyre fast, venomous, and can hold down the tarantula.
tarantulas are built to ambush from a hide, not battle in the open. thats why they lose most of those stupid bug fights on youtube.
 

RTTB

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I agree that most of those scenarios are set up for the whole 'bug war' nonsense.
 

RTTB

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I agree completely. It's basically death matches set up using animals for perverse viewing pleasure.
 

Moakmeister

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Tarantulas arent that good. a centipede will win 9/10 times with a similar sized tarantula, theyre fast, venomous, and can hold down the tarantula.
tarantulas are built to ambush from a hide, not battle in the open. thats why they lose most of those stupid bug fights on youtube.
Maybe I should clarify what I meant. I'm not asking why the tarantula can't defeat the centipede, I'm asking why the tarantula is taken completely by surprise. It doesn't even react until the centipede jumps on it. It''s as thought the tarantula had no idea the centipede was there. This is like the whole thing with roaches playing dead. Like, can you not feel the vibrations of nearby animals? How can you not tell something is there?
 

Venom1080

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Maybe I should clarify what I meant. I'm not asking why the tarantula can't defeat the centipede, I'm asking why the tarantula is taken completely by surprise. It doesn't even react until the centipede jumps on it. It''s as thought the tarantula had no idea the centipede was there. This is like the whole thing with roaches playing dead. Like, can you not feel the vibrations of nearby animals? How can you not tell something is there?
i saw that vid, i dont really know why.
 

Tony

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probably because you are giving the T too much credit... You know they can't really see.. and those antenna give the pede 'reach' , one touch of prey and it's game on. I just saw a video the other day though where the roles were reversed...Like they said,most of those videos are staged so in reality you need to go set up some cameras outside burrows for a year and record and pede/t interaction...
 

Moakmeister

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probably because you are giving the T too much credit... You know they can't really see.. and those antenna give the pede 'reach' , one touch of prey and it's game on. I just saw a video the other day though where the roles were reversed...Like they said,most of those videos are staged so in reality you need to go set up some cameras outside burrows for a year and record and pede/t interaction...
Their eyesight is crap but they can detect vibrations from the ground and air. The centipede's antennae pick up smells but they're not weapons, so the range thing makes no sense. The tarantula should be able to "see" the centipede from far away before it attacks because it's sprinting toward it with forty-fifty feet thudding against the ground. Like @Venom1080 said, most documentaries are staged, so in a real situation, this would probably go very differently, with the tarantula turning to fight/run before the centipede reaches it. A tarantula could probably outrun a centipede.
 

Tony

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Ive seen tarantulas over matched by wasps scurrying on the ground. staged without webbing I imagine their ability to "See" far is shot... Even turning to fight isn't much when confronted with a pedes speed and legs....and full frontal fangses ;)
 

Moakmeister

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Ive seen tarantulas over matched by wasps scurrying on the ground. staged without webbing I imagine their ability to "See" far is shot... Even turning to fight isn't much when confronted with a pedes speed and legs....and full frontal fangses ;)
Well the wasp runs around in front of the T's burrow to lure it out. Or they find a mature male in the open. But when that happens, the male is in fighting mode immediately. It doesn't wait for the wasp to touch it before it reacts.
 

Tony

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Well the wasp runs around in front of the T's burrow to lure it out. Or they find a mature male in the open. But when that happens, the male is in fighting mode immediately. It doesn't wait for the wasp to touch it before it reacts.
defensive posture isnt attacking, it's posing....The point remains, it doesnt have the ability to 'see' as much as you think. No matter the vibrations..Maybe you think 40-50 feet are 'thudding'.. MAYBE 40-50 feet are dispersing it's gait across a broad area , lessening it's 'vibratory footprint'? Maybe the T senses something but it is...softened...
set up some cameras and get back to us. Youtube videos about animal behavior are about as reliable as "what Tarantula is this?" pics.. ;)
 
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