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openly_gray t1_j5dg0ne wrote

Hard to tell, but arthropods are high on a lot of lunch menus so one would think predation cuts max lifespan short ( which is actually the case with most prey species since predators typically target the less fit meaning the old and the very young). It also depends if you count only the adult stage. Certain families, like mayflies have extremely short adult lifespans (days, its literally mate, spawn and die), so one could assume that more die if “old” age than through predation

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tomtink1 t1_j5dxv2c wrote

I was thinking about things like mayflies... Would it count as old age or starvation/exhaustion/exposure depending on what the reason the adult lifespan is so short?

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openly_gray t1_j5f92gw wrote

Technically “old age” since the short lifespan is a biological feature ( I believe some of them don’t even have a working digestive system). But that certainly can be debated

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