I sometimes think of life on earth as “ants and the rest of us.” To paraphrase E. O. Wilson – ants have coopted most of the best terrestrial living space and pushed other living organisms to the sides. And while it is true many other species have no problem forcing this or that ant or even an ant colony out of the way, success is inevitably temporary. Most salticids seem to have reached a not so peaceful truce with the ant clan. In many encounters the spider will assert herself with a lunge or two and the ant will move away. In the video seen here, however, although the jumper makes an initial effort to “avoid confrontation” he ultimately is the one that gets out of the way. And so it goes. Of course many salticids have adapted the “if you can’t fight ‘um join ‘um” strategy by way of mimetic adaptations. See Tutelina formicaria and Synemosyna formica among others.
Griswold, 1987