Myrmarachne+plataleoides

toc
 * You think that it’s an ant? Look again! **

It’s an ant-mimicking spider! It is commonly known as ** Kerengga ant-like jumper ** Impress others by using its scientific name: //** Myrmarachne plataleoides **//

Resemblance of a spider to an ant
A typical spider has two segmented body – the abdomen and cephalothorax. For // Myrmarachne plataleoides //, their abdomens are as long as their cephalothorax. Together with a 'waist', they look like they have a three-segmented body look similar to a typical ant look (Mclver & Stonedahl, 1993). It also has black pigments at the sides of the heads to resemble the larger eyes of the ants (Maderspacher, 2011).To reinforce their mimicry, they wave their first pair of legs in the air while moving so as to portray an “antennal illusion” (Mathew 1954; Edmunds, 1978; Jackson 1986). ** Locomotion of //Myrmarachne plataleoides:// ** Differences between //Myrmarachne plataleoides// and weaver ants ||= Present From the top of their heads
 * ** Typical jumping spider ** || //** Myrmarachne plataleoides **// || ** Weaver ant ** ||
 * [[image:id 2.jpg width="378" height="432" caption="Typical jumping spider (Photo taken by Sckel, pending for permission). Click on link for actual photo!)" link="http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/37758111"]] || [[image:id.jpg width="369" height="428" caption="Kerengga ant-like jumper (Photo taken by and permission from Kai Quan)"]] || [[image:id 3..jpg width="380" height="429" caption="Weaver ant (Photo taken by Wan Ting)"]] ||
 * = media type="custom" key="24516740" width="465" height="459" align="center" ||
 * = (Video taken by Wan Ting) ||
 * =  ||= ** Kerengga ant-like jumper ** ||= ** Weaver Ant ** ||
 * = ** Antenna ** ||= Absent Their first pairs of legs come from beneath their cephalothorax to act as antenna

|| 2 pairs of eyes at the side ||= 1 one pair of eyes at the side || ||= Mandibles || ||= Rounder and shorter gaster || However jumping is usually their last resort escape plan as they do not want to be discovered that they are actually not ants! (Jackson, 1994). ||= No || Run to the underside of the leaves (Marson, 1946) or jump away and do not bite! ||= Aggressive and defensive Open up their jaws in an erected posture || ||= Form colonies ||
 * = ** Eyes and location ** ||= 2 pairs of eyes at the front of the head
 * = ** 'Mouth' ** ||= Chelicerae/Fangs
 * = ** Abdomen ** ||= Broader abdomen at the posterior (back) end
 * = ** Spinnerets ** ||= Present ||= Absent ||
 * = ** Ability to Jump ** ||= Yes
 * = ** Nature ** ||= Fast and gentle
 * = ** Sociality ** ||= Usually solitary
 * = ** Nest ** ||= * Silk produced from individual spinnerets
 * On the underside or upper side of just one leaf
 * Tend to have a woolly and fluffy texture (Jackson, 1994)
 * Have 2 small slits at each end as their 'doors''

media type="custom" key="24517220" width="482" height="478" align="center"
 * A very short video on how //Myrmarachne plataleoides// weaves its nest**** : **

(Video taken by Wan Ting) ||= * Silk produced from last instar ant larvae (Wilson & Holldobler, 1980)
 * A cluster of leaves stuck together



media type="custom" key="24517338" width="464" height="464" align="center"
 * Weaver ants building their nest together using their larvae. Start watching from 1:15 onwards:**

Weaver ants weaving their nest together (Video obtained from Youtube under [|fairuse]) ||


 * Now it is your turn to spot the differences! How many can you spot? **
 * Answer:** There are four differences in this picture! Did you spot them all? Click [|here] for the answers!

Purpose of mimicking an ant
//Myrmarachne plataleoides// are batesian mimics of Weaver ant (//Oecophylla smaragdina//) which are known to be aggressive, give painful bites and attack together (Holldobler & Wilson 1990). Batesian mimics mean that harmless mimics (//Myrmarachne plateleoides//) look like their unpalatable models (Weaver ant) (Edmunds 1972, 1993; Cushing 1997). With the combination of both behavioural and morphological mimicry, they deceive potential araneophagic (spider-eating) predators and gain protection (Edmunds 1993; Nelson et al. 2004; Nelson et al. 2005). Although they live close to their hostile ant model – weaver ants and mimic ants, this close association can be life-threatening for them. Hence they will avoid ants upon sighting and keep a safe distance from them. They would either get out of the ant pathway, jump away or simply not get onto the same leaves as the weaver ants. This also means that ants are NOT their food!

**These weaver ants are working together to tear down the nest of a //Myrmarachne plataleoides.//**
 * = [[image:20131116_105852 edited.jpg width="537" height="356" caption="Weaver ants working together to destroy Kerengga ant-like jumper's nest (Photo taken by Wan Ting)"]] ||= [[image:20131116_110915 edited.jpg width="559" height="358" caption="Kerengga ant-like jumper's nest is being torn apart! (Photo taken by Wan Ting)"]] ||

Juveniles (young //Myrmarachne plataleoides//) actually mimic other ant species
Juveniles mimic different ant species at different stages of growth. This is known as transformational mimicry (Mathew, 1934, 1940, 1954; Bhattacharya, 1938; Marson, 1947). ** What is more fascinating is that: ** They seem to display different transformational mimicry in different parts of Asia.
 * In one part of India, early instars* being dark brown or blackish are found to resemble small black ant //Prenolepis// (Mathew, 1934) while larger instars resemble //Solenopsis//
 * In another part of India, the first three instars mimic //Solenopsis geminata// whereas the fourth instars mimic //Plagiolepis longipes// (Bhattacharya, 1938)
 * In Malaysia and Singapore, the late instars (developmental stage between each molt until sexual maturity is reached) appear to mimic small //Ocecophylla// and the orange ant //Anoplolepis// which is associated with //Oecophylla// (Edmunds, 2006).

(Photo taken by and with permission from Eddy Lee) ||
 * ** An one month old juvenile //Myrmarachne plataleoides// (about 0.2mm) from Singapore: ** || **They seem to resemble this ant species:** ||
 * [[image:juvenile.jpg width="421" height="442" align="center"]] || [[image:taken by Eddy lee.jpg width="555" height="427" align="center"]] ||
 * A month old juvenile (0.2mm) of //Myrmarachne plataleoides//  (Photo taken by and with permission from Kai Quan)  ||  Ant team work
 * Note: If you have juvenile photos of //Myrmarachne plataleoides// and would like to contribute to this fascinating fact of juveniles by sharing your photos, please feel free to contact me! You can also contact me if you have even better suggestions of which ant species the juveniles look like. **

** Moulting **
As invertebrates (organisms without backbone), they only have exoskeletons which act like their armours. Every time when they grow larger in size, they have to moult by getting out of their old exoskeletons and new exoskeletons will form just beneath the old ones. It is just like how we have to change new clothes each time we grow bigger in size! During moulting, they are at their most vulnerable states and would stay in their nests throughout the whole progress. Right after they moult, their new exoskeletons would still be soft and time is required before their new exoskeletons harden.

(Photo taken by Wan Ting) ** Differentiate male and female //Myrmarachne plataleoides// ** Their sexes could only be determined when they are sexually matured adults. ** By chelicerae ** **Chelicerae:** Spiders' jaws located in front of the cephalothorax. They are tipped with fangs and muscles to hold their prey in place. The males have enlarged and elongated chelicerae of about five times longer than those of females. This can increase the male’s length by 50-70% (Pollard, 1994). Due to their elongated chelicerae, they resemble weaver ants less. In addition, the tips of their chelicerae have a black spot which has been suggested that they look like ants’ eyes so the males actually mimic worker weaver ant carrying a dead ant (Mclver & Stonedahl, 1993). ** By their genitals ** For **males,** look at: Pedipalps of the males under the microscope. For **females**, look at: Epigyne (on the underside of female’s abdomen)
 * //Myrmarachne plataleoides// struggled out of its exoskeleton. It took about half an hour before it reached the last stage.**
 * [[image:moult1.jpg align="center"]] || [[image:moult2.jpg align="center"]] || [[image:3.jpg width="183" height="135" align="center"]] || [[image:moult4.jpg]] || [[image:taxo4254/moult5.jpg width="182" height="154" align="center"]] || [[image:moult6.jpg width="202" height="174" align="center"]] ||
 * **Weaver ant carrying another ant** || **Male //Myrmarachne plataleoides//** ||= ** Female //Myrmarachne plataleoides// ** ||
 * = [[image:taxo4254/ant weaver.jpg width="333" height="461" caption="Weaver ant carrying another ant (Photo taken by Poornima and Kannan. Permission pending)."]] ||= [[image:id 4..jpg width="385" height="458" caption="Male kerengga ant-like jumper (Photo taken by and with permission from Kai Quan)"]] ||= [[image:id 5.jpg width="335" height="460" caption="Female kerengga ant-like jumper (Photo taken by and with permission from Kai Quan)"]] ||

In the family Salticidae (Jumping spiders), //Myrmarachne// is one of the largest genera with currently 217 species described (Platnick, 2013). You can identify different //Myrmarachne// species by looking at their epigyne or pedipalps too. Different male //Myrmarachne// species differ in their chelicerae shape as well hence sometimes this feature help us to tell them apart using our naked eyes.
 * = **Pedipalps of male //Myrmarachne plataleoides//** ||= **Epigyne of female //Myrmarachne plataleoides//** ||
 * = [[image:palp of mp.jpg width="279" height="292" caption="(With courtesy of J.Proszynski)"]] ||= [[image:epi of mp.jpg width="616" height="322" align="center" caption="(With courtesy of Simon, E.)"]] ||
 * Other //Myrmarachne// species **

Some examples of //Myrmarachne// species found in Singapore. For //Myrmarachne plataleoides//, it is easier to identify them due to their colour and their close association with weaver ants.
 * = **Scientific name** ||= **Sex** ||=  ||= **Pedipalps of males/ Epigyne of females** ||
 * = //Myrmarachne cornuta// ||= Male ||= [[image:by nb.jpg width="488" height="334" align="center" caption="(Photo by Nicky Bay, permission pending)"]] ||= [[image:palp of mc.jpg width="266" height="287" align="center" caption="(Source: Original drawings by J. Proszynski (drawn 1998), published in: Edmunds M,. Proszynski J. 2003. Under fairuse)"]] ||
 * =  ||= Female

||= ||=  || Not available ||
 * = //Myrmarachne maxillosa// ||= Male ||= [[image:by nicky.jpg width="504" height="348" align="center" caption="(Photo by Nicky bay. Permission pending)"]] ||= [[image:mm.jpg width="286" height="325" align="center" caption=" (Source: Peckham G.W., Peckham E.G. 1892. Ant-like Spiders of the Family Attidae. Occ. Pap. Nat. Hist. Soc. Wisc., 2 (1): 32, plate 2, figs 11. Under fairuse)"]] ||
 * =  ||= Female ||= [[image:20131015_170028 edited.jpg width="506" height="350" align="center" caption="(Photo taken by Wan Ting)"]] ||=

** Cohabitation of female and male **
Males will build a translucent nest beside the densely woven and completely opaque nest of a sub-adult (one more moult to become sexually matured) female. After the female moults to become sexually matured, the male will enter her nest to mate with her. Females are more willing to mate at the nests rather than away (Jackson, 1982).

** Courtship away from the nest **
The males will arch their palps and lower their bodies, twitching their abdomens when they face the females. Then they will continue posturing either stationary or walking. They will chase or block the females if they run away. Sometimes they will even do a zigzag dance to mesmerize the females.
 * Watch how the male jumping spider charms the female jumping spider to mate with him. It is more than just visual display!**

(Note: Both videos are another jumping spider species. They are NOT //Myrmarachne plataleoides// but //Myrmarachne plataleoides// also carry out similar actions.) []
 * This is the funnier version:**
 * = media type="custom" key="24473392" width="450" height="449" align="center" ||
 * = Video of the male jumping spider charming the female jumping spider with his courtship display.(Video obtained from Youtube under **[|fairuse])** ||
 * This version explains what the male jumping spider is doing exactly during his zigzag dance which we cannot see with our naked eyes. Hence watch to understand the mechanism behind the display from PBS.org at:**

** Mating **
Mating occurs when the palps of the male applies to the epigyne of the female. When this happens, the male is always beside the female and orientated 180 degree to each other. Sometimes, the male will alternate different sides of his palps by freeing from her and moving to the other side of her. The females will remain stationary when the males apply their palps (Jackson, 1982).

** Male-male competition **
Unlike other jumping spiders which fight using their first pair of legs, male //Myrmarachne plataleoides// are able to fight with each other using their enlarged chelicerae.

(Note: They are NOT //Myrmarachne plataleoides//. They are another ant-mimic spider species.)
 * Two male ant-mimic spiders wrestling! They can be really fierce.**
 * = media type="custom" key="24473372" width="475" height="474" align="center" ||
 * = Video of two ant-mimic spiders wrestling. (Video obtained from Youtube under **[|fairuse]) ** ||

** Parental care **
The female will weave dense opaque nest over her nest first followed by another layer over herself. She will lay about 18 eggs which can be yellow or orange in colour. She will then continue to stay in the nest until the eggs hatch into spiderlings and come out occasionally to hunt. Upon hatching, the spiderlings will to continue to stay in the nest for a week or so to develop until they are ready to leave! As they are really tiny, they will feed on nectar and they can actually weave really tiny nest over themselves too!

Some females can lay eggs for the second time after her 'old' eggs have hatched into spiderlings.
 * Do you know? **



** Distribution **

** Habitats **
They can be found on shrubs or tree trunks (example: Jackfruit trees or Palm trees) at the forest edges or at the parks. Usually when you see weaver ants, you can try to look out for them too.

Countries
They are widely distributed in India, Sri Lanka, Kerala, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Southeast Asia (Hill, 2010). ** In Singapore ** media type="custom" key="24520524" width="434" height="430" ** Note: If you know of any other places which //Myrmarachne plataleoides//, please feel free to let me know and show me a picture of it if possible. **

** Diet **
They are generalist predators of insects but do not prey on ants (Jackson & Pollard, 1996). They hunt for their food (example: flies and grasshoppers) in the day and they sleep at night. Hence they are known as diurnal hunters (Jackson & Pollard, 1996). Their diets contain spiders as well and they will even eat their own kinds.

Prey capture
Due to the modified chelicerae in male //Myrmarachne plataleoides//, their fang ducts have been lost and they cannot immobilize prey with venom. Furthermore, they cannot insert fangs into prey as soon as they land on them. As a result, large and moving prey can escape from males more easily than females (Jackson, 1986).




 * How the male //Myrmarachne plataleoides// skewered its prey:**
 * = [[image:photo by shekainah d. alaban.jpg width="531" height="401" align="center" caption="(Photo taken by Shekainah d. alaban. Permission pending)"]] ||= [[image:photo by shekainah d. alaban 2.jpg width="560" height="406" caption="(Photo taken by Shekainah d. alaban. Permission pending)"]] ||


 * Male //Myrmarachne plataleoides// attacking a dead male //Myrmarachne plataleoides// at 0.25x the actual speed. (Actual speed is less than a second): **
 * = media type="custom" key="24482146" width="457" height="455" align="center" ||
 * = Video of male //Myrrmarachne plataleoides// attacking a dead male //Myrrmarachne plataleoides//(Video taken by and with permission from Kai Quan) ||

Predators
They get eaten by araneophagic (spider-eating) predators such as ants, mantises and even salticids (Nelson et al., 2006).

Unfortunately, sometimes their mimicry also managed to fool mymecophagic (ant-eating) spiders that they are ants. Hence these mymecophagic salticids which mistaken them as ants would eat them too. However, if they manage to fully extend their forelegs 45 degrees to the side and elevate their legs at 45 degrees (also known as the erect-legs posture (Jackson, 1982)) to show ant-eating spiders that they are not ants in time, they can escape (Nelson et al., 2006).
 * Do you know? **


 * Example of a mymecophagic (ant-eating) spider. This is also known as the ant-mimic crab spider:**

Taxonomy
//Myrmarachne plataleoides// (Pickard-Cambridge O., 1869) is an accepted name. (Catalogue of life)

1. In 1869, Pickard-Cambridge who first discovered and described // Myrmarachne plataleoides // as // Salticus plataleoides // 2. After some time, it was discovered that it actually belongs to the genus group - // Myrmarachne // 3. According to Nomenclature rules [|(ICZN)], the first author who described it has his name enclosed in parentheses to show that the species has transferred generic group.
 * Extra knowledge: The meaning of parentheses in the scientific names**

Taxonavigation

 * Kingdom || Animalia ||
 * Phylum || Arthropoda ||
 * Class || Arachnida ||
 * Order || Araneae ||
 * Suborder || Araneomorphae ||
 * Family || Salticidae ||
 * Subfamily || Myrmarachninae ||
 * Genus || //Myrmarachne// ||
 * Species || //Myrmarachne plataleoides// ||

The table refers to taxonomic ranks for biological classification. Down the column, organisms are grouped together based on increasing similarities (within themselves) and differences from other groups of organisms (based on DNA sequences, morphology and more). However, these groups are not fixed/subjective and the organism can be transferred from one group to another group within the same rank (for example, genus //Salticus// to //Myrmarachne//) when taxonomic revision is done. These ranks provide a quick and rough idea on what kind of characteristics an organism has. ** Phylum Arthropoda ** ** Extra knowledge by watching the video to have better understanding of arthropoda: **
 * = media type="custom" key="24528902" width="401" height="401" align="center" ||
 * = (Video obtained from Youtube under [|Fairuse]) ||


 * Brief notes from the video: **
 * Phylum Arthropoda **
 * 1) They have exoskeleton made of chitin
 * 2) They are bilateral symmetrical
 * 3) They have open circulatory system


 * Class Arachnida**
 * 1) They have 2 body segments - Cephalothorax and abdomen (opisthosoma)
 * 2) They have 8 legs
 * 3) Spiders breathe using book lungs filled with haemolymph (arthropod blood)


 * Family Salticidae (Jumping spiders) **
 * 1) Active, diurnal predators (Hunt in the day and sleep at night)
 * 2) Ability to jump while leaving behind a dragline
 * 3) Hunt using their acute vision by having unique complex eyes

3. The other three pairs of eyes are known as secondary eyes which are extremely sensitive to motion. These eyes can potentially enable the spider to see 360 degrees (Jackson & Pollard, 1996).
 * Eyes**
 * 1) 4 pairs of eyes
 * 2) The largest pair of eyes is known as the principal eyes
 * Help them focus and pursuit their prey accurately (Jackson & Tarsitano, 1993).
 * Identify mates, predators and rivals (Forster, 1979 & 1982; Nelson& Jackson, 2006a).

Note: If you have time, you can watch the whole documentary as it is really informative.
 * A documentary about the different groups of spiders on Earth. Start at 26:30 to learn more about Jumping spiders.**
 * = media type="custom" key="24519624" width="495" height="495" align="center" ||
 * = Documentary of spiders from National Geographic (Video obtained from Youtube under[| Educational use of content]** ) **  ||


 * Interesting response of Jumping spiders' eyes to green/red light: **
 * = media type="custom" key="24529030" width="470" height="470" align="center" ||
 * = (Video obtained from National geographic under [|Educational use of content]) ||

Meaning of //Myrmarachne//
In Ancient Greek '//myrmex//' means ant and '//arachne//' means spider. From //Myrmarachne plataleoides//'s mimicry, you can tell why it is in this genus. //Myrmarachne// species are known to associate with a dominant ant species in their habitat and/or an aggressive ant species with a potent sting. This means that they are generally species-specific - one particular //Myrmarachne// species mimic one particular ant species. Although it has also been noted before that some species may be generalized ant mimics (which means some //Myrmarachne// species resemble a few ant species), this may be due to the lack of studies of those species (Edwards & Benjamin, 2009).

**Extra knowledege: Review of //Myrmarachne//** //Myrmarachne// species have variable and unique development of the spermathecae and attached ducts which may be exclusive to them only in the Salticidae family. All the species have a basic distinctive epigyne shape with a sclerotized, elongate spermathecal complex (consisting of the anteriorly placed spermathecae with sclerotized ducts extending posteriorly) connected by membranous ducts to the copulatory openings. Although the male palps can be used as a diagnostic feature, they are not as distinctive as the spermathecal complex of female epigyne. .

Unfortunately, //Myrmarachne// genus is poorly supported in the phylogenetic analysis and species group cannot be determined accurately. This may be due to: // Bocus // may actually be a different genus that has a possible recipient of species of // Myrmarachne // and is part of the phylogenetic analysis of the // Myrmarachne // in the following phylogenetic tree. Hence by synonymizing // Bocus // with // Myrmarachne, Myrmarachne // will become a bigger genus than it should be (Edwards, 2013). ** Note: ** **Spermathecal complex =** epigyne = sexual organ in the females for male pedipalp to enter (shown in the pictures above and below).
 * 1) Lack of illustrations of diagnostic membranous internal structure and other structural details of epigyne for several described species.
 * 2) New // Myrmarachne // species are still being discovered recently (Yamasaki & Edwards, 2013)
 * 3) 2 genera (// Bocus // (from Borneo and the Philippines) and // Panachraesta // (from India)) are incompletely diagnosed

Phylogenetic tree
**Extra knowledge:** Phylogenetic tree is a branching diagram which shows the evolutionary relationships between the species based on similarities or differences in their characters (genetic, morphology etc). Most parsimonious phylogenetic tree of //Myrmarachne// (With courtesy of Edward & Benjamin, 2009) From the phylogenetic tree, there are 10 species groups of //Myrmarachne// (//electrica, formicaria, grossa, laurentina, lesserti, nubilis, parallela, plataleoides, tristis, volatilis//) with the //formicaria// and //tristis// groups having the most species. These 10 groups are assigned to 3 main clades of // Myrmarachne, // tentatively called: The last two clades are sister groups. //Myrmarachne plataleoides// is always paired with //Bocus excelsus// in the phylogenetic tree means that both of these species are very likely to evolve from the same most recent common ancestor.
 * 1) 'Australasian clade' (southern Asia to Australia)
 * 2) 'Trans-Indian Ocean clade' (Madagascar and Borneo)
 * 3) 'Western clade' (mainland Africa with outliers in Eurasia, and the Neotropics)

Epigyne and pedipalps of some representatives of Myrmarachne species groups. (With courtesy of J.Prószyński) "//Plataleoides// group is in the 'Australasian clade' and are diagnosed in females by a very narrow spermathecal complex terminating in front of the atria and small oval spermathecae. In male //Myrmarachne plataleoides//, the initial coil of the embolus is distinctively shorter and broad in the proximal half of the bulbus, with an even shorter elevated terminal coil, which gives the embolus a cork-screw appearance. The embolus tip is recurved and truncate, unique to this species." adapted from Edwards & Benjamin, 2009.

Synonymised taxa
//Myrmarachne daitarensis// Prószynski, 1992 (synonym) //Myrmarachne plataleoides// Simon, 1901 (synonym) //Salticus plataleoides// Pickard-Cambridge O., 1869 (synonym)

Only one correct scientific name is accepted at any one time in taxonomy. However, sometimes, the same taxon is named more than once independently or there is a change in the existing taxa (for instance, two genera are merged to become one) [|(ICZN)]. This results in synonyms (inappropriate scientific name of the same species). This means that when you search for data and you come across //Myrmarachne daitarensis// (for example), it means that the species is actually referring to //Myrmarachne plataleoides.//
 * Extra knowledge: What is a synonym?**

1) In Termezettudomanyi Muzeum Allatara, Budapest, Baross utca 13, Budapest VIII, Hungary 2) Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. 3) Zoologisk Museum, Kobenhavn, Universitetsparken 15, Denmark. 4) British Museum (N.H), London, Cromwell Road, London S.W.7., Great Britain 5) Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 61, rue de Buffon, Paris V. France. 6) Zoologische Abtoilung, Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien, A-1014 Wien I, Burgring 7. Austria. 7) The Florida Arthropod Collection, FDACS, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville. P.O.Box 147100, 1911 SW 34th St., Gainesville, FL 32614-7100, Gainesville, USA. 8) Institut für Systematische Zoologie, Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität, Berlin. Germany. Part of older collections preserved as dry, type specimens marked by asterisk
 * Locations of some specimens **


 * Note:** The location of the holotype is unknown.

A single physical specimen of an organism used to formally describe and name the species.
 * Extra knowledge: Meaning of holotype**

[|Albert Tamayo] [|Daniel Ruyle] [|Eddy Lee] Kai Quan [|Nicky Bay] [|Sckel] [|Shekainah d. alaban] [|Sunny Joseph]
 * I would like to show my appreciation to: **

Without their photos, this webpage will be very plain and understanding of //Myrmarachne plataleoides// will be less comprehensive. In addition, you can click on their names to view more of their photos.

I hope that this webpage gives you an introduction to the fascinating world of Ant-mimic spiders and allow you to view weaver ants with a different light next time since you know that //Myrmarachne plataleoides// may be among them. You can start spotting them!

Spiders
All the different species names in Myrmarachne: [] All the diagnostic drawings of pedipalps and epigyne of Myrmarachne species in the world: [] Useful journal to know what characters are used to analyse phylogeny for Myrmarachne: Edwards, G.B. & Benjamin, S.P., 2009. A first look at the phylogeny of the Myrmarachninae, with rediscovery and redescription of the type species of //Myrmarachne// (Araneae:Salticidae). Zootaxa 2309: 1-29
 * Dedicated to //Myrmarachne// **

Useful information about Jumping spiders: [] Another website about Jumping spiders: [] More about spiders anatomy: [] More about spiders: [] Easy to understand information about spiders: [] Simple spider anatomy: []
 * Spiders in general **

Taxonomy & other information
Information about nomenclature (naming of species): [] Movable interesting phylogenetic tree: [] The conservation status of organisms: []

Glossary of the taxonomic terms: []

A great website to view nature photos: [] Excellent macro shots by Nicky bay to learn about mostly inverterbrates: []
 * Photos **