Golden Ant-mimicking Jumping Spider - Myrmarachne sp.
FAMILY SALTICIDAE
This page contains pictures and information about Golden Ant-mimicking Jumping Spiders that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 8mm, mimics the Golden black ant.
- This Golden Ant-mimicking Jumping Spider is common in Brisbane eucalypt forests. It was usually found on gum tree trunk, where many black ants or Golden black ant were walking up and down.
Jumping Spider is a very large family contains the most colourful species of spiders. The Myrmarachne genus mimic ants. They mimic in body shape, colour patterns, and behaviors as well. This is an example of Batesian mimics of ants, i.e., gain some degree of protection by look like the ants.
- This Golden Ant-mimicking Spider walk like an ant too. The spider hide among ants without being detected. It waves their front legs just like the ant's antenna. This spider is found in a line of ants on a gum tree trunk.
- However, when disturbed, this spider run very fast and jump as a typical jumping spider.
- Ants are the most abundant group of insects and have powerful defense mechanisms such as acid taste, aggressive biting, painful sting and group defense. Ants are generally not subject to predation. They are the ideal models in mimicry rings. Many insects and spiders have different ways to resemble ants. Check this page for more about Ant-mimicking.
- We also noticed that this jumping spider did not interact with its ant model, i.e., did not prey on foraging ants although the walk alongside with them. They may simply gain protection by mimicking the abundant ant species.
- Reference:
- 1. Australian Spiders in colour - Ramon Mascord, Reed Books Pty Ltd, 1970, p26 (Myrmarachne striatipes)
- 2. Ant-mimicking spider - The Find-a-spider Guide for Australian Spiders, University of Southern Queensland, 2007.
- 3. Spiders of Australia: An Introduction to Their Classification, Biology & Distribution - Hawkeswood T, Pensoft Pub, 2003, p79.
