Spider guy Wayne Maddison has documented a remarkable mimicry complex involving several species of ants and jumping spiders in the Dominican Republic:
There’s more at Wayne’s blog. And don’t miss the comments by Scott Powell.
A Dominican Mimicry Complex
A basic question about the ant-mimicking jumping spiders: Are the ones who mimic ants members of the same subfamily or genus, or are they sort of scattered around the Salticids?
That’s a great question. I’m no expert on spider phylogenetics, but as I understand it the ant mimics are scattered among the salticids and other families as well (esp. Corrinidae). Plenty of convergent evolution.
As Alex said, they’re scattered about. . but I’ll add that there are a couple of genuses that are a bit ant-mimic loaded, like the Myrmarachne. (Ooh, and side note. . . some of the males, like M. plataleoides, are positively amazing/frightening with their ‘fangs’ open)
I’m not an expert or anything, just a fan. 🙂
This is a great story, Alex. Thanks for bringing it to our attention here.
(And I amused to learn that I am not the first to use “vinosus” as a specific epthet for a red ant.)