In other words, it is entirely unrelated to Lake Wobegon, which (according to Garrison Keillor) is derived from a Native American language and means “the place where we waited for you all day in the rain.”
What I find interesting about crab spiders (or at least some of them) is that the color matching we humans see is (we assume) meant to protect the spider from predators.
They reflect UV light quite well, though, which makes them more visible to potential prey like bees (at least according to this BBC clip).
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I admire this toad bug. Never would have seen it except it moved. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/94496983
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This is a very cool topic
I find the Ant mimicking Spiders very fascinating, actually pretending to be the prey item that they prey upon!!
Here is a species which most likely mimics ants in the Genus Pheidole (or similar taxa): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14717773
Admittedly, there are far more convincing ant-mimics out there
Mimicry in plants is something which can bend even the sturdiest of minds, like how certain orchid species in Australia mimic the mating partners of some Euglossinae as a function of completing pollination
And then, although not strictly falling into either the camouflage or mimicry categories, there are certain land insects such as the one below who can submerge themselves under water and still remain fully functional. This might not be for the sole purpose of escaping certain predators on land, but may very well assist in doing so
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58229716
Oh, what a world we live in!
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Best camouflage I’ve ever seen was a little bird called a brown creeper. I watched this bird go up and down the trunk of a white pine for ages and I took a bunch of pictures. When I went back to look at the pictures I could not find the bird in a single one! Took me ages to finally find and then when I tried to share it on here no one else could see it either!
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Potoo have an uncanny ability to resemble a broken limb of a tree, the look like where a branch broke off many moons ago, they’ll stand on the ends of tree limbs motionless, for hours.
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The mimic octopus is one of my favorites; I’ll probably never see a live one since I don’t dive, but the footage I’ve seen is incredible. I especially love its ability to mimic a banded sea krait–here’s something with ALL the limbs turning itself into something with no legs at all.
Genus Laphria robber flies and their “How are you, fellow bees” strategy are pretty cool as well.
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I love hoverflies! Here’s a mating pair I photographed recently:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/124313944
–great example of Batesian mimicry. I’m enjoying this thread for introducing me to examples of non-Batesian mimicry such as the mimic octopus–
Do all ant mimic spiders eat ants? Are there any that just use their disguise to get a vantage on other prey?
I spotted my first Myrmarachne formicaria in my house a couple years ago (it’s the only Canadian mimic species). And I’ve seen a few more since. They’re so good at what they do and so tiny—I now know that the biggest clue is, are they wandering alone? I find how they use their two front legs as faux antennae particularly intriguing. Evolving physical props is one thing, adaption of existing hardware, quite another.
I’d like to hear more examples of behavioral mimicry in this thread. Any takers?
I spotted a Myrmarachne species with a caterpillar in its pedipalps/mouth back in May: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/118143561
Your question got me thinking, and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a jumping spider with an ant as prey. Not saying it doesn’t happen, that’s just an anecdote from my own experience.
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I took a photo recently of some sort of toothpick grasshopper in Zacatecas and I’m astonished by the way the insect literally disappears among the dry grass. Hopefully I can show the picture soon.
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The other evening I was doing the backyard prowl and decided to poke into our tall cedar hedges. While I was contemplating taking a shot of some of the dried out seed capsules, I noticed that one looked a little rounder than the rest. Turned out to be a crab spiders abdomen!
https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations/126111213
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Maybe more of a meme, but try to find the Domestic Cat (Felis catus). I promise I’m not trolling:
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Found it!!!
Wooooaaahh that’s an awesome moth!!
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I must have stirred it up because I saw something fluttering and then landing - but it really took me some time to find it, even though I was standing quite close!
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