Though terrifying to people, spiders aren’t always treated with trepidation. Instead, for most of their predators, spiders are a safe snack — a tame and tasty treat — rather than a threat, forcing spiders to follow some pretty strange strategies for self-preservation.
According to a new paper published in Historical Biology, some spiders take a particularly creative approach to protecting themselves from fearless predators, posing as much more threatening creatures: ants. The strategy is so pervasive that it’s sometimes preserved in fossils. The new paper presents a strange specimen that looks a lot like an ant, however, it’s the first specimen of its species and the first ant-mimicking spider trapped in fossilized resin.
“Ants are particularly good creatures for spiders to pretend to be,” says paper author and paleobiologist George Poinar, emeritus professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University, according to a press release. “If a spider can be like an ant, it’s more likely to be unbothered.”
