Ant-Mimicking Spiders
WouterSeveral hundred spider species are known to mimic ants. The resemblance may be based on the spider’s antlike body or it may be due to the spider borrowing cues from ant behavior.
In general, ants are strong, six-legged insects. They have sharp mandibles and painful stingers. They don’t taste good to eight-legged predators.
Ants also have species-specific combinations of strong defensive traits. Ants possess the ability to move extremely fast. They use super sticky silk lines to catch their prey. These strategies help spiders avoid ants. Ants also have a very high survival rate.
Several spider myrmecomorphs mimic ants, including ant-like jumpers. Jumping spiders mimic ants from the genus Crematogaster. They are also known for their elaborate courtship dances.
One species, Synageles venator, a spider from Australia, uses a Cirque du Soleil-like tactic to prey on ants. It uses banded sugar ants as a target. The ants break rank from a tight knit column and start looking for the spider.
Another species, the Myrmarachne, mimics ants. It has two body regions – a thorax and a cephalothorax. It also has a constriction in the cephalothorax, similar to the way ants hold their bodies in place.
Another type of ant-mimicking spider is the ground spider. These spiders are as big as ants. They trick ants into thinking that the spider is carrying a dead ant. They also use dead prey as a shield.
Ant-mimicking spiders also have a sex problem. Although they don’t actually feed on ants, they do mimic the ant’s body segments. They also wave their forelegs in the air like ant antennae.
