Many major scientific discoveries have been made by chance. This one is no exception: scientists caught a pair of spiders teaming up to recreate a flower! The first observation of cooperative mimicry to attract prey and deter predators.
Once upon a time, there was a spider dreaming of looking like a flower… Unable to do it alone, it partnered with another of its kind. Together, they created a magnificent visual deception, aimed at both their prey and their predators. One day, a couple of environmental specialists from Yunnan University in China stumbled upon this cooperation and decided to document it in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Worthy of being read beyond borders, here is the story of this romantic-strategic partnership.
It all started in a humid tropical forest in Xishuangbanna, southwestern China. As part of their research project, Shi-Mao Wu and Jiang-Yun Gao were exploring when they stumbled upon a spider trying to mimic the flowers around it. Intrigued, they approached closer and discovered that it was actually two spiders on top of each other, cooperating to recreate the image of that flower. What the researchers didn’t know yet was that they were witnessing the first case of cooperative mimicry, never before seen in any species.
Strength in Numbers!
These spiders, known by their Latin name Thomisus guangxicus, are part of the crab spider family, Thomisidae. They survive by blending into the environment, both to hide from their predators—usually birds—and to trap their prey—usually insects visiting flowers. The pair observed by the researchers consisted of a male and a female. The female mimicked pale white petals, imitating the fused corolla of the flower. The male, much smaller and positioned on the female’s back, took on the appearance of the pistil and stamens. The duo perfectly mimicked the flowers of Hoya pandatura from the Asclepiadaceae family that surrounded them.
Could This Be the Result of Coevolution?
Reproducing the complexity of this flower is only possible with the presence of spiders of both sexes. It is a case of cooperation with double benefits, expanding the mimetic potential of male and female spiders: individuals enhance their survival as prey and their efficiency as predators. How did they evolve together like this? This is the question that researchers are now asking. Studying the coevolution of these male and female spiders may provide insights into understanding the development and variety of cooperative mimicries in living organisms.