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Mimicry is often lauded as a defensive adaptation, with the classic examples being where an edible species looks like a toxic one. However, sometimes mimicry follows a more sinister path, such where a predator resembles its prey. In “aggressive mimicry”, the predator is mistaken by the prey for one of its own, and hence brought into close proximity with its defenses down. Here, one of the world’s largest ants, a Bornean Giant Forest Ant (Dinomyrmex gigas borneensis) has been subdued by its doppelganger: an Ant-hunting Spider (Mallinella sp.). The spider’s appearance mirrors the ant almost perfectly in both size and coloration. This deception fools not only the ants themselves, but probably also larger predators that would otherwise not hesitate to make a snack of the spider. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).

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© Chien C. Lee
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Keywords
Contained in galleries
Predators & Prey, Mimicry, Borneo, Other Invertebrates
Mimicry is often lauded as a defensive adaptation, with the classic examples being where an edible species looks like a toxic one. However, sometimes mimicry follows a more sinister path, such where a predator resembles its prey. In “aggressive mimicry”, the predator is mistaken by the prey for one of its own, and hence brought into close proximity with its defenses down. Here, one of the world’s largest ants, a Bornean Giant Forest Ant (Dinomyrmex gigas borneensis) has been subdued by its doppelganger: an Ant-hunting Spider (Mallinella sp.). The spider’s appearance mirrors the ant almost perfectly in both size and coloration. This deception fools not only the ants themselves, but probably also larger predators that would otherwise not hesitate to make a snack of the spider. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).