@article{f4bccc56b2974803aafa37803536d0c7,
title = "Constraints on the jumping and prey-capture abilities of ant-mimicking spiders (Salticidae, Salticinae, Myrmarachne)",
abstract = "Accurate morphological ant mimicry by Myrmarachne jumping spiders confers strong protective benefits against predators. However, it has been hypothesized that the slender and constricted ant-like appearance imposes costs on the hunting ability because their jumping power to capture prey is obtained from hydraulic pressure in their bodies. This hypothesis remains to be sufficiently investigated. We compared the jumping and prey-capture abilities of seven Myrmarachne species and non-myrmecomorphic salticids collected from tropical forests in Malaysian Borneo and northeastern Thailand. We found that the mimics had significantly reduced abilities compared with the non-mimics. The analysis using geometric morphometric techniques revealed that the reduced abilities were strongly associated with the morphological traits for ant mimicry and relatively lower abilities were found in Myrmarachne species with a more narrowed form. These results support the hypothesis that the jumping ability to capture prey is constrained by the morphological mimicry and provide a new insight into understanding the evolutionary costs of accurate mimicry.",
author = "Yoshiaki Hashimoto and Tomoji Endo and Takeshi Yamasaki and Fujio Hyodo and Takao Itioka",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the management and staff of the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation, University Malaysia Sabah for the provision of field and laboratory facilities, and the management and staff of the Danum Valley Management Committee and the Danum Valley Field Centre for their guidance and assistance, both in the field and at the Research Centre. Our study was conducted in accordance with the Memorandums of Understanding signed between University Malaysia Sabah and the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo. We are grateful to the staff of the Forest Department of Sarawak (FDS) and the Sarawak Forestry Corporation for their permission to conduct research in Sarawak, to the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) for their permission to perform our research in the Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, and to Taksin Artchawakom (The Thailand Institute for Scientific and Technological Research) for the logistic arrangements in the station. We would also like to thank Editage for English language editing. Finally, we are grateful to Dr. Robert R Jackson and the referees for useful comments. This study was supported by the JSPS KAKENHI (Grant numbers: 16657028, 19570094, 24570109, and 17H01912) and by JST/JICA, SATREPS (JPMJSA1902). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s).",
year = "2020",
month = dec,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1038/s41598-020-75010-y",
language = "English",
volume = "10",
journal = "Scientific Reports",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "1",
}