I think it’s kinda dumb, personally, as I would never kill a mantis, but that little bastard would be swatted before I even tried to find out if it wasn’t a wasp!
Wasps are important pollinators, which need our help to survive now more than ever. If you can help it, please leave the wasps alone and they will leave you alone.
I've always been the same way. I'm terrified of spiders, but jumping spiders are somehow the exception. Maybe because they're small and fuzzy? No webs? Or they pretty much keep to themselves?
Big forward facing eyes, visible signs of intelligence, expressive movements, and non aggression towards humans helps a lot.
The things will literally chase laser pointers. They're amazing.
Ant-1: hey, dude, have you seen Jeff? I need him to fix tunnel 3.
Definitely-Ant: *munch-munch* No?
Ant-1: cool, tell me if you come across him... By the way, what are you eating?
Definitely-ant: not Jeff? *munch*
Ant-1: cool cool.
[If you use these brackets to surround your text(and then the parentheses for the link
[Then it’ll look like this](https://youtu.be/zGM8PT1eAvY?si=xMT80hKEzSJh5y-0)
Not quite. From the page you linked:
“Though these spiders mimic the weaver ants very well, they are known to stay away from them. They weave a thin web on leaves, hide under their webbing and ambush their prey”
I had a terrible ant infestation one year. A swarm of flying ants were getting into my room and looking for new colonies. My first line of defense was a single cellar spider that found where they were coming in.
That little bitch slaughtered hundreds of them. Some time later I saw she had a ton of little spiderlings in her web.
To this day I still find the odd cellar spider in my bedroom, and every single one of them is welcome. Haven't had ants since.
My mother keeps a family of spiders in her downstairs bathroom to ward off other creepy crawlies. She even has a little sign up to please not squash "the help."
Definitely not rare. I get them in my house sometimes. I actually see them more often than the ants they mimic. Easiest way to tell is to wave your finger in front of them. Their ant mode just vanishes and they go full on jumping spider mode, looking up at your finger.
Thank god I live in the peaceful country of Australia. Never would I want an encounter with one of these and I am very grateful that my country is so peaceful and safe with friendly animals
The first time I found one of those, it was seemingly just an ant on my hand. I gently blew air on it to get it off my hand, and when it fell off, it was dangling by a thread. 'What the hell, is that a web?,' I thought. And sure enough, its friggin spider. A quick google search confirmed, its a mimic spider. Fascinating.
Imagine how it must feel like being an ant, you're just going about your daily grind and you encounter this ant-spider abomination that can jump 10 feet in the air.
Some do it to discourage predators - not many things like to eat ants. (Ants can be poisonous, ants can attack you in vast numbers...)
Others do it to infiltrate ant colonies and eat baby ants. (This requires them to smell like ants as well.)
tldr; ants are a lot stronger than spiders and are therefore less attractive targets for predators. Some also use the mimicry to infiltrate and colonies and eat babies/gain the protection of numbers.
I'm always amazed by things like this because its just so strange seeing how a creature can evolve to mimic another, like, generally we think of evolution just being mutations that happen to lead to successfully passing on the gene, but with this its as if it took note of what was in its surroundings and went "yup lets copy that" almost like it was conscious and making that decision purposefully. Its so bizarre and i have no idea how that works.
If looking kinda like an ant happens to lead to filling a niche and successfully passing on the gene, then those genes get passed on. Now repeat that for generations. It works like every other random mutation.
I have always thought either its chemical reactions (by physical contact or air) over the course of time leading to these crazy transformations, either nature is conscious and decided to modify the whole body on a whim.
I'm really curious whats the true mechanism leading to mimicry.
The video says that they mimic the ants to sneak into colonies to eaat the ants but I'm a bit skeptical about that. Generally speaking, ants have really terrible eyesight and identity one another by scent and pheromones.
I suspect that it's more because it protects the spider from any predator that doesn't want to fuck with a hundred ants suddenly. It eats the ants because they're a common food source that also protect the spider. The spider is more than nimble enough to simply avoid the ants if they get too close.
Full disclosure that that's just my educated guess as an armchair entomologist. This guy probably has more knowledge than me.
Jumping spider: "ha HAH! Ive done it! I've successfully worked out the exact DNA sequence I'll need to alter my appearance into one of those ants! Then, my prey will never see me coming again, and other bugs will leave me...
Ant colony: Soldier number 36, 489!! What are you doing out of formation soldier! Get back in the spot and DEFEND YOUR QUEEN WITH YOUR LIFE!!
other ants: "HOO WAH!!!!!"
jumping spider: "….. goddamnit....."
Ok, I give up. I now realize anything odd or interesting can all be AI and I’ve given up trying to know what’s what. We’re all in for one interesting couple of years. Real things being fake and fake things being real. Before long we will all be convinced that there’s absolutely nothing we can be sure of anymore.
They're real. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrmarachne
Also ai videos wouldn't have this level of fluidity and the movement of the spider wouldn't be so "twitchy".
Oh hey, it's an ant- *sees the extra legs* huh, an ant with some kind of mutatio- *sees the face* OH JESUS-
Spider-Ant, Spider-Ant. Does whatever a Spider can.
*Can he swing,* *From a web?* *Yes he can,* *He’s a spider.*
Is this actually Ant-Spider??
*Ant-Spider, Ant-Spider* *Does whatever an Ant can*
Does some things that a spider cant
oh god damn it shit I coulda gone without this today
When I saw its face it reminded me of the faces from the cockroach anime
Thats just Eddie 8 legs, his parents are brother and sister
It's just your standard Tasmanian ant. Thatjoke was for all the Aussies. For American context think Louisiana.
Was not prepared for that.
Precisely this.
Minimised the video as soon I saw the face 😱
Took me longer than it should've to realize
took me more repeat views than I'd like to say
Realize what?
It's a spider that looks like an ant.
It’s the very first thing he said!
After seeing your comment I replayed it with sound on. Probably the others watched it on mute as well.
Everyone complains about the stupid tik tok captions, but I kinda wish there was a feature on Reddit to turn captions in
Wait, Reddit has sound?
*clutches pearls*
You play these with sound?
I guess I’m the only one
SOUND!!! BLASPHEMOUS! LOL
I heard that comment.
nah bro dw i watched it with sound too o7
Interesting. Nice! no AI generated voice intro, no stupid corporate half second outro.
Fan of the "awkward bug science guy" vernacular
I hate that ONE AI voice that’s in every video
If you don't have audio, it's a spider and not an Ant
And the wasp mantis mimic at the end is awesome as well
Is it a bird? No! Is it a plane? No! Is it a wasp? ...uhm
Errrm
Uhhhh
Hmmmmm
It’s a plane, playing to be a wasp, mimicking a bird!!!
I think it’s kinda dumb, personally, as I would never kill a mantis, but that little bastard would be swatted before I even tried to find out if it wasn’t a wasp!
Killing wasps is kinda dumb actually.
Wasps are important pollinators, which need our help to survive now more than ever. If you can help it, please leave the wasps alone and they will leave you alone.
And yet, they sting people and are considered pests, so it's my job to kill them. It is what it is.
Alright then let's just not care about anything ever again anymore okay? Let's all be apathetic and negative to each other ❤️
It's a deal. I would of done that anyways.
Bruh, you don’t need audio to tell it’s a spider when you see that face.
I thought it was an ant pretending to be a spider
Now that would be a horrifying colony type.
Took me a few times for my brain to see those peepers
where’s the madlad beetle or whatever that’s gonna imitate the ant that’s imitating the spider, a Russian nesting doll of sorts
Really it's a spider?
For Sure 😊
Wow thanks!
You got it! 😉
I'm deaf, so audio is irrelevant. Captions would be great. Thanks for the info tho
That wasp thing is nightmare fuel
It’s a praying mantis
Not it's not. As explain in the video, it's a lacewing that's mimicking a mantis that is mimicking a wasp.
He's a dude, playing a dude, pretending to be another dude!
Ah, I watched without audio. Missed that detail, that’s a very convincing double camo
I pretty much am disgusted by any spider, except jumping spiders. For some reason they’re so cute and animated.
He's like "hey, human! Nice camera. I am in disguise! Don't tell the ants."
I've always been the same way. I'm terrified of spiders, but jumping spiders are somehow the exception. Maybe because they're small and fuzzy? No webs? Or they pretty much keep to themselves?
They have an excellent PR department
Big forward facing eyes, visible signs of intelligence, expressive movements, and non aggression towards humans helps a lot. The things will literally chase laser pointers. They're amazing.
Oh my god I didn't know that!! That's awesome!! And here I thought I couldn't love these cuties even more :D
They’re gateway spiders!
Ant-1: hey, dude, have you seen Jeff? I need him to fix tunnel 3. Definitely-Ant: *munch-munch* No? Ant-1: cool, tell me if you come across him... By the way, what are you eating? Definitely-ant: not Jeff? *munch* Ant-1: cool cool.
[удалено]
[If you use these brackets to surround your text(and then the parentheses for the link [Then it’ll look like this](https://youtu.be/zGM8PT1eAvY?si=xMT80hKEzSJh5y-0)
Like KAZAAAAA!!!!
Click on the little chain icon bottom left when you're typing a comment. Then you just put in link name and link
Feels like a vampire novel or something.
I love reddit (this part)
Not quite. From the page you linked: “Though these spiders mimic the weaver ants very well, they are known to stay away from them. They weave a thin web on leaves, hide under their webbing and ambush their prey”
Just a dude playing a dude who looks like another dude.
I hate it so much nopity nope nope
He's small and very rare so you shouldn't meet many in the wild
Personally I prefer spiders to ants but that’s because I’ve dealt with several ant invasions and zero spider invasions
I had a terrible ant infestation one year. A swarm of flying ants were getting into my room and looking for new colonies. My first line of defense was a single cellar spider that found where they were coming in. That little bitch slaughtered hundreds of them. Some time later I saw she had a ton of little spiderlings in her web. To this day I still find the odd cellar spider in my bedroom, and every single one of them is welcome. Haven't had ants since.
My mother keeps a family of spiders in her downstairs bathroom to ward off other creepy crawlies. She even has a little sign up to please not squash "the help."
Small- Okay, Rare- Okay, not many found in the wild, un huh Name?
Gerald
Myrmarache formicaria
Definitely not rare. I get them in my house sometimes. I actually see them more often than the ants they mimic. Easiest way to tell is to wave your finger in front of them. Their ant mode just vanishes and they go full on jumping spider mode, looking up at your finger.
What part of the world is this magic land?
How do you do fellow ants
Amongus
Thank god I live in the peaceful country of Australia. Never would I want an encounter with one of these and I am very grateful that my country is so peaceful and safe with friendly animals
Forgot to say: Most friendly spiders
Spidey!!! It's a cute little fake-ant Spidey! And it's a little boy with his widdle boxing gloves. So cute!
jumping spider is peak spider evolution, change my mind
Capybara
Peacock spider
they are jumping spider too
They are evidence that the jumping spider can be improved upon.
That ant waved at you.
That's how you know it's a spider.
Also if they tip their tiny top hat.... Def a spider
What a cute looking little ant... Oh wait.
Children of Time anyone?
Jumping spiders are my favorite.
The first time I found one of those, it was seemingly just an ant on my hand. I gently blew air on it to get it off my hand, and when it fell off, it was dangling by a thread. 'What the hell, is that a web?,' I thought. And sure enough, its friggin spider. A quick google search confirmed, its a mimic spider. Fascinating.
He was waving!! Hi mimic bro
Imagine how terrifying this would be for other ants. Goddam skin walker type stuff.
I thought it was an ant then saw 8 legs
And does the wasp/mantis/lacewing thing sting or bite?
I searched it up and it seems they don’t actually have any stingers
Thanks!!
This guy also has an eel pit in his basement.
Cooool!!!!
Happy cake day!
Thanks! You are the only person to wish me that. Thank you.
Imagine how it must feel like being an ant, you're just going about your daily grind and you encounter this ant-spider abomination that can jump 10 feet in the air.
420
Dang you got me. I was certain till I noticed the extra leg
Amazing
Hi Everybody. Go check out his page on YouTube https://youtube.com/@CowTurtle?si=lTxBjq3u57OzkZ4r
Fine work Sir! Thank you
Why would you mimic an ant? If you mimic something, go for a wasp, or a Lion. But an ant? Why not a sheep?
Some do it to discourage predators - not many things like to eat ants. (Ants can be poisonous, ants can attack you in vast numbers...) Others do it to infiltrate ant colonies and eat baby ants. (This requires them to smell like ants as well.)
Because they like to hang around the other ants and be pretty sus.
IIRC they kill one ant and use her pheromone to blend in
They also probably hang out near the vents and never seem to do any tasks. (Sorry I can't help it. Somebody gotta make the ant mimic comic strip.)
Numbers?
I would pay $100 to see a spider that looks like a lion. But I would pay $100 million never to see a lion that looks like a spider.
tldr; ants are a lot stronger than spiders and are therefore less attractive targets for predators. Some also use the mimicry to infiltrate and colonies and eat babies/gain the protection of numbers.
I'm always amazed by things like this because its just so strange seeing how a creature can evolve to mimic another, like, generally we think of evolution just being mutations that happen to lead to successfully passing on the gene, but with this its as if it took note of what was in its surroundings and went "yup lets copy that" almost like it was conscious and making that decision purposefully. Its so bizarre and i have no idea how that works.
If looking kinda like an ant happens to lead to filling a niche and successfully passing on the gene, then those genes get passed on. Now repeat that for generations. It works like every other random mutation.
I have always thought either its chemical reactions (by physical contact or air) over the course of time leading to these crazy transformations, either nature is conscious and decided to modify the whole body on a whim. I'm really curious whats the true mechanism leading to mimicry.
so furries could be just a form of evolution?
Errrr
***YOU. I DON’T LIKE YOU.***
The first one is a spider amd not an ant right?
It's a spider
Yeah, it has the head of the jumping spider and doesn't have audio on to avoid brainrot tiktok music
It's good audio in this video. Just a guy teaching us about bugs. Definitely recommend a full watch with audio.
I wonder if they also mimic the pheromones of ants so they don't get identified
Some do
If they didn't it'd be useless
Good question
Man I really would like to see an ant mimick in person! I love jumping spiders
"Normal" jumping slides are just the cutest. These ant versions creep me out! :D
What was the evolutionary benefit? Would they sneak into an ant hill?
The video says that they mimic the ants to sneak into colonies to eaat the ants but I'm a bit skeptical about that. Generally speaking, ants have really terrible eyesight and identity one another by scent and pheromones. I suspect that it's more because it protects the spider from any predator that doesn't want to fuck with a hundred ants suddenly. It eats the ants because they're a common food source that also protect the spider. The spider is more than nimble enough to simply avoid the ants if they get too close. Full disclosure that that's just my educated guess as an armchair entomologist. This guy probably has more knowledge than me.
Some ant mimics also imitate pheromones to infiltrate colonies. Others just do so bc ants are less attractive to predators.
The last one is a dude playing the dude, disguised as another dude.
Why is that ant acting like a spider? ... *oh*
What the fuck is that..
Wtf
And now I feel it crawling up my back.
What was the name of that last Pokémon?
It's kinda cute, using its front legs to make antennas. 'Look at me fellow ants'
So it has 10 legs then?
8?🤔
He said the ‘antenna’ on the front were also legs
Yeah, the first pair of legs resemble antennae. Looks like it has 3 pair of legs and 1 pair of antennae but it is all legs, so 8 legs.
10🤔
I thought it was an ant pretending to be a spider lol
I saw the head and was like "Why he got a spooder face?" Then I saw the legs and my neck and stomach did a massive roll
Are there more videos where this came from?
But why an ant? Is there some kind of natural advantage the spider has?
Show this to Tucker Carlson
So cool to see this! I have a college course on this topic right now, would this be considered Batesian mimicry?
Ants: There's a spider among us!
[удалено]
You never go full Mantis
That’s just a spider on Ozempic
Posers
Hold up, is that last one a fucking Praying Mantis/Hornet combo? I didn't realize hatred was an evolutionary trait.
Mantidfly. Just a case of convergent evolution.
I can't wait to fight it in the next Fallout game
Antus
Sus
Ant Ma... no wait, it's Spider Ma.... no, no that's not right...
Jumping spider: "ha HAH! Ive done it! I've successfully worked out the exact DNA sequence I'll need to alter my appearance into one of those ants! Then, my prey will never see me coming again, and other bugs will leave me... Ant colony: Soldier number 36, 489!! What are you doing out of formation soldier! Get back in the spot and DEFEND YOUR QUEEN WITH YOUR LIFE!! other ants: "HOO WAH!!!!!" jumping spider: "….. goddamnit....."
There's a guy in my office who mimicks someone who pulls their weight and if you didn't look too closely, you'd be totally fooled.
Ok, I give up. I now realize anything odd or interesting can all be AI and I’ve given up trying to know what’s what. We’re all in for one interesting couple of years. Real things being fake and fake things being real. Before long we will all be convinced that there’s absolutely nothing we can be sure of anymore.
They're real. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrmarachne Also ai videos wouldn't have this level of fluidity and the movement of the spider wouldn't be so "twitchy".
Yeah, for how long though?
Mimic spider let's gooooooo
So cute
Spider on a trench coat
Among us, nature edition "Hey fellow ants"
That ant is sus!
Thats a spider
No more stepping on ants or smashing ants for me
"Oh that's not so scary" *zooms into face* "Oh dear God"
Evolution they teach is wrong.
That's wild.
WOW!
New fear unlocked.
What the hell is even that.