Comments on: Ants, spiders, or wishful thinking?

By: Petrophila: Salticid-mimic moths - Gil Wizen

Petrophila: Salticid-mimic moths - Gil Wizen — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 20:21:11 +0000

[…] in several moth genera, and in other insects as well. Some will debate whether this apparent image actually evolved to depict what we want it to be, but I can only imagine the reaction of a jumping spider to this image and behavior by the moth. […]

By: Shyamal

Shyamal — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 10:05:38 +0000

I agree that more testing of the hypotheses is needed. Have posted a slightly alternative view – http://muscicapa.blogspot.in/2014/02/why-look-like-spider.html

By: Around the Web Digest | Savage Minds Backup

Around the Web Digest | Savage Minds Backup — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 02:30:23 +0000

[…] Skeptical take on those flies with ‘ants’ on their wings. /via @stevesilberman /KF […]

By: Dasi Bhaktivedanta

Dasi Bhaktivedanta — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 19:16:45 +0000

Thanks for such a thought provoking and in depth article. I beg to differ,however, concerning your “Jesus in toast” theory. When I initially saw the photo I thought it was an image of two ants crawling on the wings of the fly. I tend to think of flies wings an opalescent or transparent and unmarked. I am no entymologist! (forgive misspelling?) It was only after reading the accompanying commentary from the Center for Biological Diversity (which forwarded me to this site) that I understood it to be wing markings. Thanks again for your knowledge and considerations of the subject. Personally I was as fascinated by the beautifully colorful eyes as much as the awesome wings!
Thanks, Dasi Bhaktivedanta

By: Is Picture Wing Fly a Predatory Jumping Spider Mimic? | Natural History Nature Documentary

Tue, 26 Nov 2013 20:46:33 +0000

[…] The video of this picture wing fly was recorded on April 24th 2011 in Athens, GA. It has a curious wing pattern which resembles a jumping spider but is it really? […]

By: To Know a Fly – Soldier of Emerald & Gold » Biodiversity in Focus Blog

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 07:21:40 +0000

[…] specimen collected in 1985 by Amnon Friedberg (who happens to be the same guy who studied and described several of the “ant-winged” fruit flies that went viral earlier this month — the dipterological community is an incestuous little […]

By: Methodisch inkorrekt – Folge 14 „Gotisches Bouquet“ | Methodisch inkorrekt!

Methodisch inkorrekt – Folge 14 „Gotisches Bouquet“ | Methodisch inkorrekt! — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:20:08 +0000

[…] ist über dieses Bild auf Twitter gestoßen und hat recherchiert was man hier sehen könnte. Wir mahnen vor zu schnellen Deutungen und lernen warum Pareidolie uns Gesichter auf dem Mars und Jesus auf […]

By: Gil Wizen

Gil Wizen — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 01:52:17 +0000

Hi Morgan, I got to this post via a comment posted by Alex Wild on FB. Very well written, and I agree with your analysis of the subject. People are so used to looking for familiar patterns everywhere including animals and plants, and the best example for this is the huge number of butterflies/bugs/spiders-with-a-face-on-their-body and monkey-face/butterfly/bird-like-flowers photos surfacing every once in a while on the web.
I know these flies from Israel, and I immediately recognized the image you posted from Amnon Freidberg’s work on them. I think the only way to tell for sure what these wing patterns are used for is by observing the flies’ behavior in the field – how are they posing? Are they waving their wings? What other organisms are in the nearby area interacting with the flies? Someone commented above that these flies are found on plants that are not even visited by aphids or ants. This is an important observation. However, I have a different experience – I have seen the flies on the inflorescence of several thistle species (Asteraceae), and the stems were always heavily infested with aphids (usually Brachycaudus helichrysi) and tended by ants. I actually intend to visit Israel later in the spring so this should be a nice topic to look into, since these flies are relatively easy to find.

By: You Can’t Get Here from There: A review of Trivers’ Folly of Fools | Ugotitwrong's Blog

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 16:10:08 +0000

[…] self-deception, is a selective adaptation (one assumes therefore genetic rather than learned). (Click here for an interesting discussion of apparent mimicry in a fruit […]

By: brian

brian — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 06:25:34 +0000

i have yet to see an ant, but immediately upon seeing the image linked from here https://twitter.com/ziyatong/status/397348948857196544/photo/1 i could have sworn it was jumping spiders one on each wing, and i started pondering wether the fly could have been sucked up by the spiders and now they are hunting for more prey, or what the……… i couldnt imaging a fly letting spiders on his wings. So NEVER did i assume ants, then when i read the article, taken from biologicaldiversity.org, it said ants, and on this page mentioning ants i dont know what you all are talking about seriously. Im guessing maybe in most corners of the world you guys dont see jumping spiders too often but i have grown up with them.

The fact that i see jumping spiders and you see ants DOES sort of lead to the theory that we see what we want, BUT im almost sure that this is a defense, and i would venture whatever preys on this fly, or atleast one of its main predators are careful to not eat spiders.

i couldnt see the same effect for ants. it would make more sense to be eaten if you have an ant on your wing since thats just more protien to a predator more than likely.