What's this?

C_Strike

Arachnobaron
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Jun 8, 2005
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444
looks like some kind of Myrmarachne sp.. maybe formicaria, not sure on its native habitat though. im pretty sure its around your area
An ant mimic spider.. from the family Salticidae
Then again i could be far off
 

alkarlosse

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 29, 2007
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17
That's it, indeed. A wonderful creature and a great example of evolution :)

Take care of it :)
 

lucanidae

Arachnoprince
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Are you sure it is a Salticidae? Many families commonly mimic ants, including Clubionidae. I don't see the huge AME that would show it to be a Salticid...
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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Jan 5, 2005
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8,325
So its not an ant?
no. it is an ant mimicking spider! the spider looks like an ant because it eats ants, or it borrows the ants' reputation so other predators will leave it alone, or maybe for another reason

VERY COOL!

the first or second pair of legs is adapted to be held to look like little ant antenna. the body segments are adapted to look like three body segments (like and insect) instead of two like the spider really has.

man, that is neat!
 

Scorpendra

Arachnoprince
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Feb 16, 2005
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you found it hanging from the ceiling from silk? someone better give that little guy some lessons on ant mimicking :embarrassed:
 

C_Strike

Arachnobaron
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Are you sure it is a Salticidae? Many families commonly mimic ants, including Clubionidae. I don't see the huge AME that would show it to be a Salticid...
That might be so, but if it is indeed myrmarachne, then it is salticidae..
Thats my workings, hehe:)
 

lucanidae

Arachnoprince
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Myrmarachne females have very flattend chelicerae, which this specimen does not. M. formicaria is native to Europe but has been introduced into the U.S. Plus, Myrmarachne, like all salticids have very distinct AME which should be easily seen in this photo, but are not.
 

lucanidae

Arachnoprince
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I'd be willing to bet Zodariidae or possibly Oonopidae, maybe even the Corrinidae genus Myrmecotypus.
 

C_Strike

Arachnobaron
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Ahh, well il keep hold of that lil info from now:) I did say that i wasnt sure of where they were from

many thanks!:worship:
 

KUJordan

Arachnobaron
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Nov 22, 2005
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I know it's very difficult to see the AME's on this little fella' from the angle the picture was taken. If we could get a better pic of its face then we could easily confirm or reject Salticidae. Aren't Salticid's AMEs (on ant mimickers) very well camouflaged with the rest of the cephalothorax- to where you really can only see their shape instead of the average one's eyes that are very reflective?
 

kahoy

Arachnoangel
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oh come'on look at the pedipalps, its way too bulky and looks like hairy, it is a salticid.
 

lucanidae

Arachnoprince
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I know it's very difficult to see the AME's on this little fella' from the angle the picture was taken. If we could get a better pic of its face then we could easily confirm or reject Salticidae. Aren't Salticid's AMEs (on ant mimickers) very well camouflaged with the rest of the cephalothorax- to where you really can only see their shape instead of the average one's eyes that are very reflective?
http://www.smugmug.com/keyword/all/mimicking#105010251
http://www.pbase.com/gehyra/image/33574117
http://www.pbase.com/larena/image/69150772

Most ant mimicking salticids have very apparent AME's as shown in the pictures I linked too above.

oh come'on look at the pedipalps, its way too bulky and looks like hairy, it is a salticid.
Bulky and hairy palps in an ant mimicker don't help at all in family identification. Although I'm willing to accept the spider as a salticid, it wouldn't be on characters that don't have any ID'ing usefulness.

Here you can see an ant mimicking Salticide with neither bulky nor hair palps.
http://www.pbase.com/larena/image/69150772
 

desert solifuge

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
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9
I know nobody will probably reply this, but anyway I think this is Aphantochilus actually a Thomisidae, I know that if you understand something about spiders you might disagree, but I know a lot a about spider and it really look like a Aphantochilus, but check www.vidanaterra.info in Thomisidae and see for your own...
 
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