Myrmarachne formicaria, a common ant mimic spider around here. They’re actually quite small but I was impressed by this older male specimen I spotted last year.
What I love about finding one in the house is to slowly approach it and see how it transforms its mimic gait (using six of its eight legs to ‘ant-walk’ and two front legs as fake antennae) to a kind of ‘jigs-up’ 8-legged run followed sometimes by a leap into space on an escape thread. On the thread, they look much clumsier than regular spiders. It’s probably the weight distribution to pull off the mimicry.
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I was a little suspicious when I first saw this one but walked by it at first before coming back a bit later and realising it was far too symmetrical to actually be a bird dropping
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/231379885
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“Original” bumblebee:
Bombus ignitus | Fiery-tailed Bumble Bee ·
호박벌
Mimic robber fly:
Laphria mitsukurii |
뒤영벌파리매
“Original” bumblebee:
Bombus ardens | Fire-tailed Bumble Bee ·
좀뒤영벌
Mimic robber fly:
Mallota dimorpha |
쌍형꽃등에
“Original” paper wasp:
Genus
Polistes | Typical Paper Wasps ·
쌍살벌속
Mimic hover fly:
Sphiximorpha rachmaninovi |
호리병꽃등에
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We have a fascinating plant here is New Zealand, Alseuosmia banksii, that regularly fools iNaturalist users as it appears to mimic multiple unrelated and morphologically diverse plant species. There is often much discussion in the comments for iNat observations on this species! This blog post has photos of this species and the plants it mimics: Alseuosmia blog
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NOT my mimic capture, but a pretty neat new discovery in the mimic area. This time? Termite mimicry in a maggot!
New species of blow fly from Morocco taking mimicry to a new end
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That is amazing. Those maggots are actually rather cute.
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Can we vote for common name of ‘Butt Face magots’?
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Here’s a few wasp mimics I’ve seen and possible models.
Stiletto fly Agapophytus aterrimus appears to be mimicking a spider wasp of some sort.
Another Stiletto Fly Agapophytus pallidicornis imitating another spider wasp, like Fabriogenia sp.
This time a Tachinid fly Cylindromyia sp imitating something like this wasp in the tribe Ageniellini.
Now a Soldier Fly Elissoma danielsi imitating an Ichneumonid wasp maybe something like Paraphylax anax.
A longhorn beetle getting in on the act. Hesthesis cingulata imitating a Hairy Flower-wasp in the Campsomerinae sub-family.
And even a moth, Paranthrenella melanocera perhaps mimicking Xanthopimpla sp.
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