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Green Tree Ant Spider (male)

Cosmophasis bitaeniata

Description:

Jumping spider to 7mm body length. Bright orange patterned abdomen. Pink and blue iridescent flashes on his legs. Constantly on the move. It was spotted cruising around the periphery of a small green ant nest, perhaps looking to prey upon the ant larvae. (see notes below)

Habitat:

Edge of forest on James Cook University, Cairns campus.

Notes:

A jumping spider found in New Guinea, Australia and Micronesia. Cosmophasis bitaeniata is a myrmecophilic associate of the green tree ant, Oecophylla smaragdina. The abundance of C. bitaeniata on a tree or shrub is positively correlated with the number of nests of O. smaragdina on that vegetation. Experiments with captive spiders confirmed that the spiders prey on the larvae by removing them from the mandibles of minor workers. C. bitaeniata avoids direct contact with major workers of O. smaragdina in daylight. It is thought C. bitaeniata may be an exploitative chemical mimic of its host.

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10 Comments

Andrea Lim
Andrea Lim 10 years ago

Thank you Gerardo and Phillip. Yes this particular Cosmophasis has amazing orange patterns on its abdomen.

Nimbid Ditavi
Nimbid Ditavi 10 years ago

Wonderful species! And amazing Shots Andrea!

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 10 years ago

Wow extraordinary !

Andrea Lim
Andrea Lim 10 years ago

Thank you for your comments Lauren, Mac and Bruno

BrunoJakobs
BrunoJakobs 10 years ago

Incredible Photos

MacChristiansen
MacChristiansen 10 years ago

Nice series Andrea

LaurenZarate
LaurenZarate 10 years ago

What a beautiful jumping spider! Looks like it should be in the Disneyland Night Parade Spectacle!

Andrea Lim
Andrea Lim 10 years ago

Thank you Sachin and Atul!

Atul
Atul 10 years ago

Superb !

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 10 years ago

Wonderful colors,

Andrea Lim
Spotted by
Andrea Lim

Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Spotted on Apr 4, 2013
Submitted on Apr 4, 2013

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