Ant mimicry
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Ants are abundant all over the world, and insect predators that rely on vision to identify their prey such as birds and wasps normally avoid them, either because they are unpalatable, or aggressive. Thus some other arthropods mimic ants to escape predation (Batesian mimicry).
Some species (e.g. Zodariidae spiders) use their anatomical and behavioral ant mimicry to hunt ants.
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[edit] Spiders
80% of spiders with Batesian mimicry mimic ants, comprising more than 100 species. Ant-mimicking spiders can be found in the following spider families:
- Araneidae (e.g. Micrathena)
- Corinnidae (e.g. Apochinoma, Castianeira, Myrmecium, Corinna vertebrata, Mazax pax, M. spinosa, Myrmecotypus, Sphecotypus, Otacilia, Phrurolithus)
- Dysderidae (Harpactea hombergi preys on ants, behavioral mimic, not morphological)
- Eresidae (Seothyra schreineri males mimic small Camponotus castes)
- Gnaphosidae (e.g. Micaria, Callilepis nocturna)
- Linyphiidae (Linyphia furtiva, Meioneta beata)
- Oonopidae (Diblemma donisthorpei mimics Wasmannia auropunctata)
- Salticidae (e.g. Belippo, Bocus, Consingis, Corcovetella, Enoplomischus, Judalana, Leptorchestes, Martella, Marengo', Myrmarachne, Paradamoetas cara, Peckhamia picata, Philates, Sadies", "Sarinda, Synageles, Synemosyna, Tutelina, Uluella, Zuniga)
- Theridiidae (e.g. Anatea formicaria, Cerocida strigosa, Coleosoma floridanum (only males), Coleosoma acutiventer, Helvibis brasiliana, H. chilensis, Heleosoma floridanum, Melychiopharis cynips, Cerocida strigosa)
- Thomisidae (e.g. Amyciaea, Aphantochilus, Bucranium, Strophius nigricans)
- Zodariidae (e.g. Storena, Zodarion)
Some spiders (e.g. Zodariidae or some Myrmarachne) use their ant disguise to hunt ants.
Several spiders (eg., most Myrmarachne) undergo transformational mimicry: because the spiderlings are too small to mimic the ant species the adult copies, they use other ant species as a model.
The overall body of spider myrmecomorphs is much narrower than non-mimics, which reduces the number of eggs per eggsac, compared to non-mimetic spiders of similar size. They seem to compensate by laying more eggsacs in their lifetime. Ant-mimics usually use their first or second pair of legs to fake ant antennae, such reducing the number of functional legs to six.
Sometimes, the sexes each mimic a different model. There are also spiders where several morphs occur, each mimicking a different morph of the model ant species, or different ant species. For example, light yellow to brown morphs of Synemosyna aurantiaca mimic Pseudomyrmex flavidulus and P. oculatus, while black morphs mimic P. gracilis and P. sericeus.
In Micrathena, only males and juveniles resemble ants. This may be mimosis rather than mimicry.
further, it should be noted that even within a closely related group of taxa ant mimicry might have originated several times independently. This is demonstrated in the Salticidae subfamily Ballinae (Benjamin, 2004)
References
A taxonomic revision and a phylogenetic hypothesis for the jumping spider subfamily Ballinae (Araneae, Salticidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 142: 1-82.
[edit] Diptera
There are several fly species that look like an ant, at times stunningly so.
At least one species from the Richardiidae genus Sepsisoma mimic ants, particularly the formicine ant Camponotus crassus.[1]
Several species of Micropezidae (stilt-legged flies) resemble ants (especially the wingless, haltere-less Badisis ambulans), as do species in the genus Strongylophthalmyia.
[edit] Hemiptera
Among the bugs, the wingless Myrmecoris gracilis looks like an ant and feeds on ant larvae.
Pithanus maerkeli roughly resembles an ant.
[edit] Beetles
Many parasitic Staphilinidae that march with army ants strikingly resemble their hosts. An outstanding example is Ecitomorpha nevermanni, whose color varies to match the color variation of its host Eciton burchellii. Since Eciton army ants have poor vision, this is probably an example of Batesian mimicry to escape predation by vertebrates.
The Anthicidae are also ant-like in appearance.
[edit] Mites
The phoretic mite Planodiscus attaches itself to the tibia of its host Eciton hamatum. The cuticula sculpturing of the mite's body is nearly identical to that of the ant's leg.
[edit] Thrips
Franklinothrips is a genus of thrips that is predatory. Especially the females mimic ants in appearance and behavior. Ant mimicry also occurs in other genera of Aeolothripidae, where it has arisen independently, for example Aeolothrips albicinctus in Europe and A. bicolor in North America, the Australian species Desmothrips reedi, Allelothrips with seven species from Africa and India, Stomatothrips with eight species from the Americas. This kind of mimicry probably evolved as a response to the presence of ants.[1]
[edit] Phasmids
Extatosoma tiaratum, while resembling dried thorny leaves as an adult, hatches from the egg as a replica of a Leptomyrmex ant, with a red head and black body. The long end is curled to make the body shape appear ant-like, and the movement is erratic, while the adults move differently, if at all.
[edit] References
- ^ Mound, L.A. & Reynaud, P. (2005). Franklinothrips; a pantropical Thysanoptera genus of ant-mimicking obligate predators (Aeolothripidae). Zootaxa 864:1-16. [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2005f/zt00864.pdf PDF
- Komárek S. 1998. Mimicry, aposematism and related phenomena in animals and plants - a bibliography 1800-1990. Prague: Vesmír.
- Cushing P.E. (1997). Myrmecomorphy and myrmecophily in spiders: a review. Fla. Entomol. 80:165–193. PDF
