蚂蚁是跳蛛反对好斗的毒液蜘蛛侵略时的一个保镖。

一个胆小的跳蛛用蚂蚁的气味作为一个秘密武器，让自己免于成为毒液蜘蛛的猎物。而这个方法的缺点是跳蛛也是蚂蚁最喜爱的食物。新西兰坎特伯雷大学的Ximena Nelson和Robert Jackson研究发现，为了克服这个额外的危险，蜘蛛又取得了一个计划，那就是在蚂蚁巢附近落地。

Nelson和Jackson在菲律宾国际水稻研究所在开展试点工作，观察一种跳蛛(Phintella piatensis)，织叶蚁(黄猄蚁)和毒液蜘蛛(Scytodes SP)之间的动态。

毒液蜘蛛在一定距离可以通过吐出毒液固定它的猎物。在菲律宾，它跟跳蛛一样生活在一个大糯叶里面。它通常旋转其网站跳到跳蜘蛛的巢中，使狩猎过程一点点变得更容易。然而，研究人员发现，毒液蜘蛛从来不捕食靠近织叶蚁窝附近的跳蛛。这是因为，毒液蜘蛛受到这些蚂蚁释放特定空降嗅觉化合物排斥。

研究人员发现，跳蛛选择筑巢基于他们是否能看到活着的蚂蚁，如果他们发现蚂蚁的气味或看到从死织叶蚁制成的坐骑筑巢地。然而，这还没有一帆风顺的跳蜘蛛，因为它也是织叶蚁最喜欢的零食。因此，跳蛛打造一个不同寻常的坚韧和密织密防蚁巢，昆虫很难将其撕裂开来。巢的铰链丝襟翼在每端的功能摆动门中。这些有助于在被蚂蚁追踪时，蜘蛛能够迅速进入或离巢。

作者指出，深入研究蚂蚁等节肢动物的生活方式将为我们提供了一个更好地了解微生境选择及其生态后果的复杂性。

原文摘要：

Timid spider uses odor and visual cues to actively select protected nesting sites near ants

Ximena J. Nelson, Robert R. Jackson

Associations in which a more vulnerable species gains protection by seeking out the company of a pugnacious “protector” species capable of deterring predators are documented among mixed-species groups from various taxa, but experimental studies are rare. We consider an unusual arthropod-based example in which the associate species, Phintella piantensis, is a jumping spider (Salticidae) that associates with the territorial weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina, which in turn is a potential predator of Phintella. However, the predator we consider in this mixed-species association is Scytodes sp., a spitting spider (Scytodae) that often targets salticids as prey. Scytodes adopts a strategy of building its web over salticid nests and then preying on resident salticids when they leave or return to their nests. Our experiments show that, on the basis of olfactory cues, Scytodes is deterred from the vicinity of O. smaragdina. Phintella builds dense ant-proof nests to minimize the risk of being killed by Oecophylla, and we show that olfactory as well as visual cues of ants elicit nest building by Phintella. We propose that Phintella actively chooses to situate nests in the vicinity of weaver ants as defense against a specific ant-averse predator that singles out salticids as preferred prey.