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Ant-mimic Spider

Description:

If you think this is an ant, you need to take a closer look! This critter is a small black-colored jumping spider under the Myrmarachne genus, almost perfectly mimicking a long black ant, probably Tetraponera species is its model ant. It even has a long pedicel for better mimicry. The length is approximately 5-6 mm.

Habitat:

Madai Waterfalls Forest Reserve Park (Pusat Sejadi Hutan Simpan Madai Baturong Kunak), Sabah.

Notes:

>>>Map accuracy : 1km diameter. It was raining when I noticed that this is an ant mimicry spider so I quickly brought it under a shelter to photograph it. The spider spent some time on my thumb nail so I brought it under the sunlight to get better pictures of it. This is the first time I have spotted this species and no more further spottings of this species after this incident.

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26 Comments (1–25)

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Thank you, rams4d

rams4d
rams4d 10 years ago

Awesome, Impressive, Amazing, Congratulations !!!

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Added into the mission.
Thank you for the invite, Atul.

Atul
Atul 10 years ago

Chun please add it in our mission http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/1916...

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Unfortunately no.
It was raining so I had to bring it somewhere else to photograph.
Otherwise I would have stayed behind trying to see what ants are around there. So far I guessed the closest ant would be Tetraponera species or even Pseudomyrmex ants as what Sckel pointed out.

LaurenZarate
LaurenZarate 10 years ago

Did you happen to see the ant species that it mimics?

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Oh, so that is what it's "waist" is called - a pedicel.
Thank you LaurenZarate.
Ceherzog, this spotting is a Myrmarachne species which is not found in North America but there are different genus of ant-mimic jumping spiders there recorded in Bugguide http://bugguide.net/node/view/37826/bgpa...
StephenSolomons, you can surely remember it. It's not too hard :-)

LaurenZarate
LaurenZarate 10 years ago

Wow! This one is wonderful and so tiny! Great job photographing it! I can't believe the exceptionally long "fake pedicel".

ceherzog
ceherzog 10 years ago

Great field notes...thanks! Do any of these occur in NA?

StephenSolomons
StephenSolomons 10 years ago

This is good information ChunXingWong, I am going to see if I can remember this when I am out next and find some ant mimics, Thanks

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Hi Adarsha, thank you very much.
Diaz, ant-mimic spiders are common here so I have always been trying to spot them. I see them regularly and observed them, also try to compare them with the ants they mimic. This way, I learn how to identify their movements and characteristics. I have found at least 10 species so far, all of these spiders stay near ants but always keep a distance from them.

Here is a tip to finding ant mimic spiders:
I you see a lonely ant by itself,
suspect it and try observing it.
See whether it has antennae or just frontlegs acting as ant antennae.
Do notice how it moves too.
An ordinary ant will usually march for a long time but
a jumping spider will run short distances and take a short rest.
While resting, they will move their antennae up and down before continue running.

Diaz José Miguel
Diaz José Miguel 10 years ago

By the way how did you manage to tell it was a spider, I mean what made you realize, was it it's behaviour, the way it moved? please let us know

Adarsha B S
Adarsha B S 10 years ago

Wow! very unique fellow ! i was curious to find one of these...:)
Nicely done Chun :)

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Sckel, Jemma, ceherzog, Diaz José Miguel,
Thank you very much for all of you lovely comments and favourites.
It really does seems to look like Pseudomyrmex ants.

Sckel
Sckel 10 years ago

I think it reminds me a bit Pseudomyrmex ants. Pseudomyrmex have poisonous bite

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 10 years ago

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/408...
here is one though not as beautiful as yours!

ceherzog
ceherzog 10 years ago

Wow..very cool...one really needs to count legs!

Diaz José Miguel
Diaz José Miguel 10 years ago

Beautiful! It's really amazing, congrats! I have a couple ant mimics in my spottings if you want to take a look!

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Thank you Stephen and Sergio.
Good thing ant-mimic spiders are one of my main focus
so I always keep an eye out for them. There are even several
times I mistaken an ordinary ant as a spider :D

Sergio Monteiro
Sergio Monteiro 10 years ago

Wow Chun, what a beauty! The ant spiders I've seen are much bigger than that! Congrats, it is a very nice spotting.

StephenSolomons
StephenSolomons 10 years ago

I never would have picked that as spider, nice spotting!

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Yes it really is.
Thank you Emilie.

EmilieChich
EmilieChich 10 years ago

Interesting spotting!

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

Here is the Tetraponera species from Sabah which the spider might mimic. http://images.plurk.com/2i41DU4AoAfN1GZf...
Anybody knows any ant species that look closer to this spider ?

ChunXingWong
ChunXingWong 10 years ago

You really are quick, Mark.
Thank you for giving the first comment.

ChunXingWong
Spotted by
ChunXingWong

Kunak, Sabah, Malaysia

Spotted on Jun 9, 2010
Submitted on Jan 29, 2014

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