These Amazing Spiders Look Remarkably Like Ants [Slide Show]
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THIS CREATURE is not an ant but rather an ant-mimicking spider—specifically, a female Myrmarachne rubra in Queensland, Australia. Image: Ximena Nelson
WEAVER ANTS in Queensland eat what may be a Myrmarachne spider. Image: Ximena Nelson
MALE M. LUPATA in Queensland hangs out in his nest. Image: Ximena Nelson
FEMALE MYRMARACHNE in Kenya signals aggressively to another female (not shown). Image: Ximena Nelson
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MYRMARACHNE FEMALE in Kenya stands over a ruptured nest and next to an intact nest. Females make denser nests than males—all the better for keeping ants out. Image: Ximena Nelson
MYRMARACHNE MALE (right) watches a female (left). Image: Ximena Nelson
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.
