In the animal world, the distribution of ants is very widespread, and it is also one of the most numerous animals, and there are many animals that will feed on ants, but among ant predators, there is a spider that imitates an ant, which is very similar to ants in terms of form and behavior, rather than like spiders, but this kind of spider imitates the appearance of ants, but it is to prey on ants - ant spiders.
First, the big ant spider is one of the ant spiders
The genus is the largest genus in the family Dipteridae, with more than 200 known species of ant spiders worldwide, and the great ant spider is one of the ant spiders, mainly distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of East and Southeast Asia.
Ant spiders and ants are both similar and different: first of all, the number of legs is different, ants have 6 legs, and ant spiders are eight legs, the front pair of ant spiders imitate the tentacles of ants, but they are much thicker than the antennae, and the head is also different, the body size of the ant spider is also several times larger than the ant, and some ant spiders will also spit silk and jump and so on.
Ants are a kind of food for ant spiders
In the food chain, ants are a kind of food for ant spiders, and large ant spiders imitate the appearance of ants, just to prey on ants, so ant spiders imitate ants, that is, to better blend into ant colonies and better prey on ants.
Ant spider imitates into ants, but also a means of defense of ant spiders, ants have natural enemies, ant spiders also have natural enemies, such as birds that prey on spiders, insects, etc., will not prey on ants, and imitate into ants, more conducive to ant spiders to avoid predators, which is also a kind of imitation of ant spiders, to obtain a better living environment.
Third, the strange breeding method of the large ant spider - through breastfeeding to breed offspring
In terms of breeding methods, mammals have always been considered to be unique to mammals, and other animals rarely have such a way, and the breeding method of large ant spiders is similar to that of mammals, and they will breed offspring through breastfeeding, which is very peculiar in ant spiders.
After study: after the large ant spider hatches its baby, within about 20 days, the newly hatched large ant spider larvae will not eat other food at all, and their food source is to suck the droplets secreted by the mother large ant spider from the reproductive groove to grow and develop, and completely rely on the liquid to survive in the first 20 days, and after 20 days, the baby spider will find other foods alone.
It is very meaningful for the giant ant spider to breed offspring through breastfeeding, which is also the world's first invertebrate that can raise offspring through mammals, and the giant ant spider is independent of the mammalian system evolution, which is of great research significance for invertebrates.
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