December 1, 2014

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These Amazing Spiders Look Remarkably Like Ants [Slide Show]

Ant-mimicking spiders are the ultimate imposters

By Kate Wong

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You may have heard of the scarlet king snake that masquerades as the venomous coral snake or the mimic octopus, which impersonates the deadly lionfish. Now meet the spiders that have evolved to resemble ants. They are among nature’s most fascinating fraudsters. In the December Scientific American Ximena Nelson of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand describes the extraordinary lengths these arachnids—members of the genus Myrmarachne—go to in order to convince observers they are ants, even waving their front two legs above their heads to give the appearance of antennae. Images of these remarkable spiders—which are quite difficult to photograph because they move so quickly—follow in the slide show below.

>>View a slide show of ant-mimicking spiders

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she has focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for nearly 30 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home to the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, as well as to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and a “Big Day” race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Wong is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Bluesky @katewong.bsky.social

More by Kate Wong
Scientific American Magazine Vol 311 Issue 6This article was published with the title “These Amazing Spiders Look Remarkably Like Ants [Slide Show]” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 311 No. 6 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican122014-78NBemfR3OrxelQwxQASds
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