Summary Myxococcus xanthus kills susceptible bacteria using myxovirescin A (TA) during predation. However, whether prey cells in nature can escape M. xanthus by developing resistance to TA is unknown. We observed that many field‐isolated Bacillus licheniformis strains could survive encounters with M. xanthus , which was correlated to their TA resistance. A TA glycoside was identified in the broth of predation‐resistant B. lich...