<![CDATA[Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱]]>Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱

This is likely Leptorchestes berolinensis (🇩🇪 Großer Ameisenspringer), & from its shape & the way it was running up & down the rose leaves, I was sure it was a large ant.

Then I downloaded the photos & counted the legs 😳

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/8ab397b4-73ed-45a3-b291-e80d6fb7c0ca/well-i-didn-t-have-that-on-my-may-day-bingo-card-a-predatory-jumping-spider-impersonating-a-noble-worker-antRSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 02:07:48 GMTFri, 01 May 2026 15:10:04 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 16:21:19 GMT]]>@saarmuller @albertcardona The latter, I think. There are many sets of similar species which can only be differentiated microscopically, it seems.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500232867441336https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500232867441336Fri, 01 May 2026 16:21:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 16:18:22 GMT]]>@markmccaughrean @albertcardona It is certainly unreliable if I try to do it by photo. But if you have photos from all sides what else do you need? Smell? Sound? A movie showing how it moves? Or is only a dead one plus a microscope sufficient?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/saarmuller/statuses/116500221286974153https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/saarmuller/statuses/116500221286974153Fri, 01 May 2026 16:18:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 15:37:28 GMT]]>And finally, hopefully something less strange or controversial – a large buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris; 🇩🇪 Dunkle Erdhummel).

They've been flying around the garden for quite some time, but rarely staying still for long enough to get half-decent pictures.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500060495259942https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500060495259942Fri, 01 May 2026 15:37:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 15:32:11 GMT]]>At first, I thought this tattered butterfly would be easy to identify, despite only getting this one poor shot before it flew away.

Looks like it's genus Lycaena & specifically the small copper, L. phlaeas. But the pattern of black marks on the forewing isn't quite right, so I wonder if it's just an aberration or another species.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500039663662959https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500039663662959Fri, 01 May 2026 15:32:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 15:26:54 GMT]]>@markmccaughrean This is awesome! I once found an ant-mimicing spider on my spectacles once (different species, of course), and I didn't get as good a look at that one as these lovely photos of yours! (And that's not only because I had to take my spectacles off.)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/amenonsen/statuses/116500018935435112https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://flipping.rocks/users/amenonsen/statuses/116500018935435112Fri, 01 May 2026 15:26:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 15:25:57 GMT]]>That spider isn't the only thing going under false pretences in the garden today.

This is a nomad bee, a genus evolved to impersonate wasps – likely Gooden's nomad bee (Nomada goodeniana; 🇩🇪 Goodens Wespenbiene), although I've learned from @albertcardona that identifying arthropods from photos alone is more fraught than I expected.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500015216852958https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116500015216852958Fri, 01 May 2026 15:25:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 15:13:57 GMT]]>@b_age Apparently this part of the Upper Rhine Plain is a bit of a hotspot for this species, but until this afternoon, I have to admit that I had no idea that there were ant-mimic jumping spiders. Bonkers.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116499968021774761https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116499968021774761Fri, 01 May 2026 15:13:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱 on Fri, 01 May 2026 15:12:30 GMT]]>There are apparently several species of jumping spider that impersonate ants in this way, & I have to say that both body shape-wise & activity-wise, it's a brilliant piece of mimicry. Even through the macro lens, I didn't realise that it wasn't an ant in real-time.

OK, didn't help that it was constantly scampering up and down, just like an ant, & I'm happy I even got one half-decent shot.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116499962285064444https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/markmccaughrean/statuses/116499962285064444Fri, 01 May 2026 15:12:30 GMT