Aggressive mimicry

Aggressive mimicry

In my last blog I wrote about prey deceiving predators. In this post I am going to talk about aggressive mimicry. Aggressive mimickers are predators that deceive their prey.
One example is myrmecomorphy, this is when spiders mimic ants.


Figure 1: Myrmarachne plataleoides- batesian mimics of Weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina. Photo by Sunny Joseph.(Taxo4254.wikispaces.com, 2015)

Aggressive mimicry based on Chemo-reception 

Spiders and other insects tend to avoid eating ants because of their sheer number. A colony of ants could easily take on any one predating insect. However this is the case for some mimicking spiders. The spiders prey is the ants. The spiders appearance is morphologically similiar to the ant. This however does not prove that the ants are deceived. Ants use a variety of chemo-reception techniques to identify foreign invaders or objects.
Therefore the spider must be able to deceive the ants, chemically.  Cosmophasis bitaeniata is a spider found in Australia. It can produce the chemical hydrocarbons that the weaver ants Oecophylla smaragdina produce to communicate. This then disguises the spider as a weaver ant. Allowing the spider to enter the nest and prey on the larvae and eggs. (Nelson and Jackson, 2012)

Spiders hunting specifically male moths

The bolas spider specializes on eating male moths. It does this by targeting the males senses. At night the bolas spider hangs a silk thread with a blob of sticky glue on the end and swings it around until a moth gets stuck to it. This is example is special because the spider attracts the male moth by releasing a chemical mixture similar to the female moths pheromones which the female moth releases to attract a mate.(Nelson and Jackson, 2012)


Figure 2: Bolas spider and its silk thread with the sticky glue on the end. From [http://boyslife.org/features/1263/a-photo-guide-to-my-favorite-spiders/]

References

Nelson, X. and Jackson, R. (2012).How spiders practice aggressive and Batesian mimicry . Current Zoology 58(4), pp.620-629. 

Taxo4254.wikispaces.com, (2015). taxo4254 - Myrmarachne plataleoides. [online] Available at: http://taxo4254.wikispaces.com/Myrmarachne+plataleoides [Accessed 22 Mar. 2015].

[Image] retrieved 22/03/2015 from http://boyslife.org/features/1263/a-photo-guide-to-my-favorite-spiders/