“Colorful Jumping Spider Syler Collingwoody: Imperfect Ant Mimicry and Camouflage as a Protective Strategy”

We usually think of camouflage in nature in terms of body coloration, which allows a species to blend into the background and elude predators. But previous studies have documented locomotor mimicry in several species, such as swallowtail butterflies and web-winged moths, as well as jumping spiders. Myrmarachne formicaria, which mimics the use of the limbs and the general movement of ants. The latter is an example of perfect mimicry, generally considered the most effective at avoiding predators.

But Hua Zeng, an ecologist at Peking University in China, and his colleagues were fascinated by the colorful jumping spiders. Syler Collingwoodywho presented an imperfect simulation, and decided to perform some laboratory experiments to determine how this might provide a protective benefit. They also began to explore the effectiveness of spider coloration as a camouflage strategy, explaining their results in depth new leaf Published in the journal iScience.

Unlike the common ant-mimicking spider, which mimics the body color of brown or black ants, S.Collingwoody He has a nice body color.” said Zeng. “From a human perspective, they appear to blend in well with the plants in their environment, but we wanted to test whether their body color serves as camouflage to protect against predators.”

The team first noticed locomotor mimicry while collecting samples from S.Collingwoody of the four counties south of Hainan. Spiders have adapted what the authors call a “stop-and-go” gait pattern similar to that of ants, which involves extending their first leg up and forward, in effect mimicking the antennae. For their experiment, they also collected five different species of ants that share the environment with spiders, as well as jumping spiders that don’t imitate ants. Phintelloides versicolor. Finally, they collected samples of two potential predators: one was a type of spider that hunts and eats other spiders, and the other was a praying mantis, a more common predator with a monochromatic visual system.

First, Zeng et al. Trajectory and gait analysis S.Collingwoody And five types of ants. This is how ants walk:

Here’s how to create a file Syler Collingwoody A jumping spider imitating a walk:

The authors note the uncanny similarities, especially with smaller ant species that are roughly the same size as spiders. Apart from raising their forelegs, S.Collingwoody bobbing in their stomachs. “S.Collingwoody Not necessarily a perfect mimic, as its gait and trajectory is very similar to that of many ant species.” said Zeng. “Being a general imitator rather than completely imitating a single ant species can benefit spiders by allowing them to extend their range if the ant model occupies a different habitat.”

Next, they tested the effectiveness of the ant-mimicking defense strategy with a series of antipredation experiments, uncovering both S.Collingwoody And not imitated be. versicolor For predatory spiders and grasshoppers. Given selection, predatory spiders are more likely to attack non-mimetic jumping spiders, while praying mantises attack both equally. The author suggests that this is due to size. For smaller predatory spiders, accidentally eating a spiny ant could result in injury, which would not be a concern for a larger mantis.

As for the bright body coloring S.Collingwoodyzeng et al. conducted an analysis of matching the background color of these spiders to five species of ants and non-mocking spiders, as well as two common plants they like S.CollingwoodyRed-flowered West Indian Jasmine, Fukien tea tree. S.Collingwoody It has been shown to hide better from predatory spiders and mantises when hiding in jasmine plants than in tea trees. The authors concluded that this type of jumping spider relies on a combination of imperfect ant mimicry and camouflage coloration to ward off predators.

DOI: iScience, 2023. 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106747 (about DOIs).