“Ground-dwelling species include wolf and lynx spiders, and even — in parts of the West — tarantulas,” Mizejewski says.

The predators were more likely to attack the non-mimicking spider than the ones that imitate ants. Out of 17 trials, the spider launched five attacks—all of them were launched towards a non ...

Regardless of their actual sex, spiders with male-like dorsal patterns (stripes) were attacked more often by the predator than those with female-like patterns (no stripes). Collette Cook et al.

However, not all the spider's potential predators are fooled by this elaborate act. In the study, the ant-mimicking spiders were presented to different predators alongside a non-mimicking type.

The authors concluded that this species of jumping spider relies on a combination of imperfect ant mimicry and coloration camouflage to ward off predators. DOI: iScience, 2023. 10.1016/j.isci.2023 ...