Can a Common and Abundant Plant-Visiting Ant Species Serve as a Model for Nine Sympatric Ant-Mimicking Arthropod Species?

Many arthropods mimic ants to avoid predation risk from visual predators. Our study of ant-mimicking arthropod diversity revealed 10 sympatric myrmecomorphs including spiders, mantids, bugs and grasshoppers. All, except one, were found predominantly on extrafloral nectary-bearing and homopteran harbouring plants. Of the five plant-visiting ant species, Camponotus compressus, Camponotus paria, Camponotus sericeus, Crematogaster subnuda and Tapinoma melanocephalum, only C. compressus showed significantly high occurrence and abundance on these plants. Except for a small spider morph, the remaining nine myrmecomorphic species resembled C. compressus and apparently use this common and abundant ant species as their model.