Hullo all! I am Sajesh a #behavioral #ecologist, pursuing my PhD from @tvmiiser. I am excited to be part of #globalscienceshow to share the findings from our most recent paper with Divya from @azimpremjiuniv and Pranav from @CES_IISc https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-020-00674-y on JUMPING SPIDERS!!!

so buckle up, and don't forget to check out @thealmostpsych after this! This is my first attempt at #scicomm and first public attempt at #SciArt so please be kind tweeple

#Jumping #spiders are found everywhere, from leaf debris on forest floors to the ledges of skyscrapers.

Their acute #vision helps then to accurately stalk and capture prey, making it one of the most efficient groups of #predators amongst #invertebrates.

#Jumping #spiders encounter a wide variety of critters all the time! Are they able to distinguish between them??? We wanted to explore how the jumping spider #Plexippus #paykulli responded to three different kinds of #ants which occurred in their same habitat

The black and red #ants attacked the #spiders readily. But when separated by a transparent barrier, the spiders looked at the black ants more and approached them more frequently compared to the red and gold-backed ants (both of which are typical warning signs in invertebrates)

But what happens when a #jumping #spider encounters an #ant #mimicking #jumping #spider? Ant mimicking spiders are found sharing habitats with ants and jumping spiders, and their #mimicry provides them protection from #predators! We looked at the case of three different mimics.

Gold-backed and red mimics attacked the jumping spider, and when separated behind the transparent barrier, the non-mimics looked but never approached or attacked the mimics.

We show that it might be a good idea for jumping spiders to avoid ants and ant-like invertebrates, but not necessarily all of them. Otherwise, they may simply end up jumping around all the time, which could get quite taxing after a while tbh.

@PranavBalasubr4