Watch this spider walk just like an ant

By Andrew WagnerJul. 11, 2017 , 7:15 PM

In order to avoid spider-loving predators, the jumping spider Myrmarachne formicaria has evolved to look like an ant. But a new study suggests it has learned to walk like an ant, too. The arachnid walks back and forth in a winding wave motion that looks like an ant following a trail, researchers report today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Scientists previously thought that these antlike spiders don’t use their front legs at all when walking, constantly raising them up as pantomime antennae. However, when viewed in slow motion with a high-speed camera, the spiders move using all eight legs, only raising their forelimbs whenever they take a pause. These pauses appear to be consistently spaced out and timed just long enough to cement the antennae illusion for any predators that may be watching.

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