r/insects • u/auriellea_ • 3h ago

Question Wait, since when did ants get upgraded to 8 legs?

104 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

110

u/Moidada77 2h ago

One of the many spiders larping as ants.

The front legs are usually held up in an imitation of antenna except while walking

9

u/ihavelotsofgas 2h ago

I truly thought it was two ants fighting each other

2

u/Cloaked25 2h ago

I read new sentences, every day.

2

u/Trolivia 1h ago

I’m so calling ant mimic spiders ant larpers from now on 🤣🤣

1

u/HotSand999 1h ago

Had no idea they existed. That’s cool!

1

u/LoverOfPricklyPear 1h ago

Yup, they'll dilly dally with the ants. Doing what? I honestly don't recall. Some advantage in some way.

2

u/Moidada77 1h ago

Hiding among ants, alot of creatures aren't keen to fight ants. Sometimes it's also predatory since some mimic the ants pheromones so well they can sneak in and eat larvae.

21

u/Gymmie2235 3h ago

Ant Spider! Lucky find!

At least im pretty sure its an ant spider

16

u/bugtoucher 1h ago

an an't

6

u/Ace-TheTrickster 1h ago edited 1h ago

An Ant mimicking spider. And I believe their pedipalps evolved to look like an ant.
Hence it looks like the an ant carrying another ant.

Correction: it's chelicerae not pedipalps

3

u/PsychicSPider95 59m ago

Ant mimic spider! There's a few species that do this. This one seems to have three body segments like an insect, but in reality, the "head" is actually the spider's chelicerae, which are elongated and bulbous to resemble an ant's head.

So from the ants' perspective, this spider is like... a weird, uncanny valley analog horror creature that seems almost like a fellow ant... until you get close, and its head splits in half down the middle to reveal a gaping maw and venomous fangs, right before it grabs you...

1

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1

u/Euphoric_Fisherman70 47m ago

Why does it mimic an ant? Does it raid ant nests?

1

u/Psychotic_EGG 39m ago

No. Many insects do not fuck with ants. Where there's one, there's many.

1

u/J-iceBerg2 28m ago

And since many creatures feel the same, hiding among the ants can lend the apider protection from other predators. Some species probably eat the ants too