Syler Collingwoody It is a jumping spider that wears a coat of vibrant blue, metallic, orange, and sometimes red. It also makes impressions, imitating the movements of a variety of ant species.
A jumping spider doesn’t mimic ants to get attention — quite the opposite. Ants are aggressively territorial and are known to the insect world for their deadly jaws and use poison and other defensive strategies. Hundreds of spider species ant imitation Avoid exposure eaten by predators.
But the colorful S. collingwoodi does something special among imitators. The researchers found that the jumping spider mimics some traits of several ant species in its habitat. By looking at the ants – but not perfect mimicry – it makes what the researchers call imperfect mimicry. But this deficiency is enough to fool one of the jumping spider’s most dangerous predators.
The researchers also found that the spiders may find another layer of protection by blending into a similarly bright plant in their habitat. the The results have been published Wed in iScience.
