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New records of ant-mimicking spiders from North-East India

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Abstract

Spiders usually show Batesian mimicry with different model ant species. There are no specific study of ant mimicking spiders and their association with model ants from North-Eastern part of India. In this study, from the campus of Gauhati University, Assam, we recorded total eleven ant-mimicking spiders of which two are new records from India and seven are new records from North-East India. We noticed the model-mimic association of Myrmarachne melanocephala with Tetraponera rufonigra, Myrmarachne cornuta with Tetraponera allaborans, Myrmaplata plataleoides with Camponotus compressus, Myrmarachne acromegalis with Polyrhachis laevissima, Myrmaplata aureonigra with P. laevissima and Polyrhachis dives, Cambalida flavipes with Camponotus compressus and Apochinomma elongatum with Tetraponera nigra. Four unidentified Mymarachne sp. were found mimicking the ant species namely Camponotus parius, Technomyrmex albipes, Polyrhachis tibialis and Dolichoderus moggridgei. The work will open a new window for future studies to explore the ant’s and spider’s diversity and their co-evolutionary interactions for avoiding predator, deceive other individuals etc.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Head of the Department, Zoology, Gauhati University for his support. Authors acknowledge infrastructure facilities (Including DST-FIST) of the Dept. of Zoology, Gauhati University. Authors are thankful to Prof. Bikash Gogoi, Head, Dept. of Geology for allowing to access Leica S9i to take few images of specimens.

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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Authors did not avail any funding for carrying out the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Entomology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Dipamani Sarma & Jitumoni Das

  2. Department of Zoology (Entomology Laboratory), Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Bulbuli Khanikor

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  1. Dipamani Sarma
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  2. Jitumoni Das
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Correspondence to Bulbuli Khanikor.

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Supplementary Material 1

. Photographs showing dorsal and ventral views of different recorded ant mimicking spiders found at Gauhati University campus, Assam, India

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Sarma, D., Das, J. & Khanikor, B. New records of ant-mimicking spiders from North-East India. Int J Trop Insect Sci 44, 983–988 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-024-01200-0

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