Feeding ecology of scolopendromorphs: integrating a global literature review with Japanese citizen-sourced data

Knowledge of food habits is essential for ecological research, yet those are often assessed based on general assumptions rather than evidence, especially in secretive animals that are difficult to observe in the wild, such as centipedes. This leads to underestimation and mischaracterisation of their ecological roles. To address this problem, the present study evaluates the trophic interactions of scolopendromorphs by a dual approach, which integrates a global literature review with analysis of Japanese citizen-sourced data to examine the diets of scolopendromorphs. A total of 76 publications were systematically reviewed, and 102 reported predation events were analysed to assess publication trends and predator-prey size ratios. Concurrently, 8,684 entries from social media and citizen science platforms were mined, yielding 1,130 predation records that were used to construct a detailed prey inventory for Japanese scolopendromorphs. The literature review revealed that scolopendromorphs consume small prey when targeting mammals and amphibians but are capable of preying on large reptiles comparable to themselves, at least regarding body length. Despite the increase in recent publications, it is highly probable that available reports are biased towards vertebrate prey. In contrast, although the citizen-sourced data lacked quantitative metrics such as body size, they encompassed a much broader array of trophic interactions, including the consumption of animals, both alive and dead, and plant material, many of which are not covered in the literature. The citizen-sourced data revealed ecologically notable interactions including cross predation, foraging on spider webs, and ingestion of venomous animals. Collectively, these findings highlight the remarkably broad foraging versatility of scolopendromorphs and ascertain a potential risk of drawing ecological inferences from unverified assumptions or a biased subset of evidence. By integrating a traditional literature review with analysis of citizen-sourced data, the present study not only provides a more comprehensive portrayal of the feeding ecology of scolopendromorphs but also illustrates a promising methodology for uncovering the structure of food webs for secretive animals, for which observations depend on chance encounters.