Avoidance of ant chemical traces by spider mites

Because of the strong predation pressure exerted by ants, small arthropods have developed various strategies of avoiding ant predation (Way 1963; Jennings 1971; Akino et al. 1999; Otsuki & Yano 2014). Spider mites become easy prey for ants when they leave their protective webs (Otsuki & Yano 2014; Adachi & Yano 2017); therefore, the ability to avoid traces of ongoing ant activity should confer a selective advantage to mites.