I don't know where I'm going but, I'm on my way. submerging myself in the sounds of silence. my prefered state of inebriation may seem pathetic but, how else do I keep my thoughts at bay. so easy it is to ruin everything around me.
spiny, long-legged, and armored, Polyrhachis ants are a common sight in Singapore as they forage for their colonies in a perpetual breakneck sprint. but this creature is no Polyrhachis: this is a jumping spider that looks and moves exactly like one!
he is Toxeus maxillosus*, one of the finest ant mimics I’ve seen.
an elongated first set of legs mime questing antennae while the rest are perfectly sized to match Polyrhachis’ gait. his enlarged chelicerae appear like an ant’s head, and the illusion is completed by pedipalps slung beneath like ant mandibles.
unfortunately I didn’t get a good still photo of the red-rumped Polyrhachis armata that he mimicked. however, a neighboring shrub housed another T. maxillosus who sported a shiny coat of gold hair in the style of Polyrhachis illaudata, a worker of which was also sitting there. side-by side, the mimicry is simply exquisite.
*at least, I think the black and red form is also considered T. maxillosus. the gold-haired form seems to be the most commonly observed type.
oh, and in case the ant mimicry wasn’t enough, at least one species of Toxeus lactates.
T. magnus females produce nutritious milk-like fluid to feed their young in the nest for six weeks, even after the babies leave their nests to hunt for themselves.
not to do a “coconuts” thing but… hair, milk, that’s a mammal I’d say
