off the top of my head, my favorites gotta be Sicarius/Hexophthalma spiders and Mantodea
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93045474
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=861237887884144
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/103390550
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Mine would have to be Aspidontus taeniatus, a type of blenny that masterfully mimics the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse. Not only does it mimic the shape and colouration, but also the cleaner wrasses’ distinctive swimming style and “dance” they perform to entice customers. Fish will come up to the mimic, expecting a good clean - what they get instead is a plug of skin, mucus and flesh ripped from their body!
However, this mimicry seems to only work well on young, inexperienced fish - older fish can often tell the difference between the real deal cleaner wrasse and the mischievous mimics, and will avoid mimics.
The best way to distinguish the blenny from the cleaner wrasse is the position of the mouth - the blenny has an underslung mouth, while the wrasse has a terminal mouth.
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Pretty much anything in Attenborough’s Life in the Undergrowth. I’m not sure this ant-larvae mimicking azure caterpillar is my favorite, but the mind-control parasitic wasp that manages to eat it anyway is pretty epic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCo2uCLXvhk
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Here’s a recent find of mine, Vitacea polistiformis (Grape Root Borer Moth), a wasp mimicking moth. It fooled my students and created a great learning opportunity that insects are not always as they seem. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/117500275
And here is my favorite local ant mimick, a Hyalymenus tarsatus (Texas Bow-legged Bug) nymph https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/102059244
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97244887
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I don’t have a picture of it, but there is a cichlid fish which mimics a dead fish. It looks like a fish drifting upside down on the bed of the lake. Then when something comes to take a bite from it, the cichlid eats it.
I found such a lacewing larvae just recently:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/115601233
It’s easier to see in the linked video.
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My favorites tend to be the poop mimics;
I really like the beetle that Arthur Evans dubbed the “booger beetle”, or Plagiometriona clavata. It’s a species of tortoise beetle that mimics bird droppings and it does a really good job when it’s sitting on a leaf. I also like the Chlamisus and Neochlamisus beetles, and the young swallowtail caterpillars.
Plagiometriona clavata
Black swallowtail caterpillar
Neochlamisus
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Leafhoppers with the same color patterns as their own feeding damage.
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I find it quite interesting how common it is for Spiders, mainly orbweavers, to mimic the black/yellow patterns commonly found in Order Hymenoptera. It’s must be a successful flag of avoid me if you dare considering they aren’t very dangerous to anything not stuck in their webs. It really shows off the power hymenoptera has with their eusocial abilities. Most people are aware that there’s the many species of hoverflies in Family Syrphidae that do this as well, https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49995-Syrphidae, but spiders doing this isn’t talked about as much. I think it is really cool.
Arigope is definitely the first one that comes to mind. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/67707-Argiope-aurantia. There’s also Phylloneta pictipes who is not very well known but has that striking black and yellow pattern https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/469102-Phylloneta-pictipes. Araneus marmoreus has one as well https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/120183-Araneus-marmoreus. Trichonephila has banded legs and golden silk https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/904336-Trichonephila-clavipes. Micrathena sagittata is yellow with black spikes https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/120578-Micrathena-sagittata, and so is Gasteracantha cancriformis https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49540-Gasteracantha-cancriformis.
I’m sure there is a bunch more. I’d love to see any more examples of this anyone else might have.
That would be the Sleeper Cichlids (genus Nimbochromis) from the Rift Lakes, very cool indeed! I can’t think of any other animals that feign death for the purposes of catching food - certainly unique!
I’d love to learn more about the Rift Lakes cichlids, they sound like a fascinating bunch!
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I came across a moth today acting like a dead leaf after reading this post.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118293216
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Their camouflage might seem poor from a human perspective since we are visually comparing their features with the limited wavelength range of our eyes. Perhaps from the ant’s perspective the camouflage might actually be pretty good and involve scent and perhaps colours beyond our visual range.
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Could you provide some examples of specific species? That sounds cool! :)
No, unfortunately.
Two types of spiders come to mind …
Camouflage – Cyclosa species - called ‘Trashline Orbweavers’ in English - keep a vertical line of debris in their webs that make it harder to spot the spider’s location in its web.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/51323040
Mimicry – Myrmarachne are jumping spiders that mimic ants, often holding up their front pair of legs and moving them around similar to what one would expect from an ant’s antennae. Males can have exaggerated palps that resemble an ant’s mandibles.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/12564291
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6271789
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Maybe not my favorite, but this is a cool example I observed:
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Pentobesa moths are amazing. Some mimic moss or lichens.
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Oh wow some of those are amazing! Thanks I love them!
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My favourite, the Canada Lynx, for changing colours in different seasons to blend in for maximum hunting success!
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