For this #FridayFlyday: today I was browsing around trying to ID a fly and inadvertently discovered these. Ant-mimicking flies, genus _Myrmecothea_. Now I've seen it all. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/132235-Myrmecothea

Photos:
- Katja Schulz https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/139649   
- Louis Burns https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/292460732    
- Jane Waters https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/18914443     
- Mark Faherty    

#FlyFriday #bugstodon #flies #insects #Diptera #Ulidiidae #iNaturalist #mimicry #myrmecomorphy

Dealing with a lot of real-life Stuff but I had a few minutes in the garden yesterday and this little _Synageles_ ant-mimic jumping spider cheered me up.

#DailySpiderVid #spiders #JumpingSpiders #Araneae #Salticidae #mimicry #myrmecomorphy

#DailySpiderPic: "Well, this is awkward…" An ant-mimic jumping spider (_Synageles_) crosses paths with a _Prenolepis imparis_ ant. Its disguise is meant to put off potential predators that won't mess with ants—but the ants themselves rely more on chemical cues and aren't fooled. I saw a couple of _Synageles_ on this planter and they both carefully avoided the ants.

#SpidersOfMastodon #JumpingSpiders #spiders #mimicry #myrmecomorphy #Araneae #Salticidae #ants #Hymenoptera #Formicidae

ah yes,, , amt 🐜

#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #AntMimic #JumpingSpiders #mimicry #myrmecomorphy #Araneae #Salticidae

The ant _Prenolepis imparis_ and the jumping spider _Synageles_, on milkweed.

I don't think _P. imparis_ is the "model" for this spider, but they do look pretty similar—especially when they're both moving fast. It's very easy to mistake _Synageles_ for an ant.

#DailySpiderPic #SpidersOfMastodon #DailyAntPic #spiders #JumpingSpiders #JumpingSpider #Araneae #Salticidae #mimicry #myrmecomorphy

Gelis agilis. She looks like an ant; she smells like an ant; she's not an ant.

#insects #wasps #myrmecomorphy