November 14, 2008: Ants

[xoxoxoBruce]

Look at these two ants, a female and a male.



Aren't they wonderfully efficient creations... strong, streamlined, and quick to scamper on those eight legs. Eight legs?

Hah, fooled you, they're Spiders, Myrmarachne plataleoides, to be exact.

The spiders live in trees and bushes where the weaver ants live in colonies. By mimicking the ants they are able to stay close to them and gain protection from predators. Since weaver ants have a painful bite and also taste bad, this strategy appears to be successful. Though these spiders mimic the weaver ants very well they are known to stay away from them. They weave a thin web on leaves, hide under their webbing and ambush their prey.

The Kerengga Ant-like Jumper also mimics ant-like behaviour by the style of locomotion and also by the way they wave their front legs like antennae to mimic the ants. These jumping-spiders jump only when their safety is threatened.

Damn, ya can't even trust ants these days.

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