Bug FAQRed Weaver Ant-mimicking Spider
Myrmaplata plataleoides · Order: Araneae · Family: Salticidae
The red weaver-ant-mimicking spider looks like an ant with a constricted body and black patches that imitate the ant’s eyes. Females are about 6 to 7 mm, males 9 to 12 mm, and they live in trees and bushes where weaver ants build colonies, weaving thin leaf webs to ambush prey.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Its body has three ant-like segments with constrictions on the cephalothorax and abdomen, and two black patches on the head mimic the ant’s large compound eyes.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Female spiders are about 6 to 7 mm long, while males are larger at 9 to 12 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
Unlike the weaver ants, this spider does not bite people and is considered timid.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They live in trees and bushes alongside weaver ant colonies and spin a thin web on leaves from which they hide and ambush prey.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They catch prey by hiding under their leaf webs and ambushing insects that wander into the web.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Early instars look very different from adults, and females have been observed moulting while hanging from a dragline.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What do they look like?
They have a three-segmented ant-like body with constrictions and black patches on the head that mimic ant eyes.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are they found?
They are native to India, Sri Lanka, China and much of Southeast Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
How do they catch food?
They spin a thin web on leaves, hide beneath it, and ambush prey that contacts the web.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Salticidae)
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Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrmaplata_plataleoides
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.