Came home afternoon for lunch & as usual will have little time before we start & i was watching TV, My two daughters were playing in the backyard as they are having summer holidays, Knowing that i was home they came inside & told me that they saw a different kind of spider in the garden today, I then hurriedly went to see what they were pointing to & it was a Lynx spider. I had not seen lynx spider in my backyard before & wanted a photo of it.
Told my daughter to keep an eye on spider while i get my camera, fortunately the spider had not moved from that place.
Lynx Spider.
After taking some photographs i saw an black ant like thing on the Champak plant (Sampige in Kannada) , but on close observation i discovered it was an Ant Mantis & its size similar to an black garden ant.
A small red ant is also seen in the pic for comparing the size.
Ant Mantis (Odontomantis planiceps)
This species is so called as they tend to do mimicry of an ant when they are young & this is an first instar nymphs (Instar=A developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects) & when it reaches adulthood its coloured is gradually changed to green.
Also a few days back i had taken one more photograph of a species who does same mimicking of ant & it was not mantis but the spider.
This was observed on the lemon plant as i was watching this plant for several days since it had a butterfly pupa. But to my surprise i saw a big red ant like thing which was very shy & to my surprise it was the “Ant like Spider” belonging to Jumping spider family.
Myrmarachne plataleoides (Ant like – Jumping Spider)
This spider mimics the weaver ants & stay close to their colonies so that other spiders don’t eat them, also the weaver ants are not easily preyed by birds & insects due to their ferocious bite & foul smell of formic acid formed when they are tamed & ant spiders get their protection.
Read more what Guru-G says about these species on this link
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13 Responses to “Ant Mimicry”
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wow!, 2 mimics in one post! awesome mimicry, isn’t it?
Thanks chandu.. yes it was ..first i was confused on mantis ..amazing nature adaptation..
Wow… Nice… Love the narrative and the pics…
Thanks Ash.. Glad you liked it 🙂 ..
Superb post, Saandip!! Very like Guru-G!! Lovely pics too!
Thanks Uma..Do you mean mimic Guru-G ?? maybe yes as he is my motivation Icon..Glad u liked it 🙂 ..
Lovely post Saandip! Loved both the images and the information provided. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Thanks Rohit..My pleasure 🙂 ..
Saandip,
Very nice narration and pics. Loved the mantis pic.
Cheers
Kesava
Thanks Kesava 🙂
Glad u liked it .. btw your agumbe trip photos are simply awesome..keep it coming ..
Thanks Krups.. 🙂
Lovely post on mimicry Saandip. Yet to see an ant-mimic mantis.
Thanks Shreeram 🙂 ..Glad you liked it..World is small u may bump on it tomorrow 😉 ..