Predation by ants on jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in the Philippines

Abstract

Using a tropical fauna from the Philippines as a case study, ant‐salticid predator‐prey relationships were investigated. In the field, 41 observations of ant predation on salticids were made, and the actual attack on the salticid was seen in four. In the laboratory, five of the ant genera observed in the field were tested with four categories of salticids: (1) four myrmecophagic (i.e., ant‐eating) species, (2) six myrmecomorphic (i.e., ant‐like) species, (3) an ant‐associate species (i.e., a species that is neither myrmecophagic nor myrmecomorphic, but known to associate with ants), and (4) 14 ordinary species (i.e., species that are neither ant‐eating nor ant‐like, and are not known to associate with ants). In these tests the highest survival rates were observed in the myrmecophagic salticids, followed by the myrmecomorphic salticids, the ant‐associate species, and finally the ordinary species. © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004.