The appearance of (Jackson, 1992)is unlike that of other spiders. They are about 1 cm long, and have cryptic markings, tufts of hair and long spindly legs. Because of their unusual appearance, are often mistaken for detritus by both prey and potential predators.
Portia, when the female spins around on the male while suspended in air, she eats the male after copulation. does not display this cannibalistic behavior.are able to mate either on or off of the web. Male and female both participate in a courtship dance. This dance consists of a series of jerky walking, leg shaking and tapping behaviors. The male mounts the female, the female spins around on the male, and they copulate. Mating can also take place while both male and female are suspended in mid-air from a silk guyline. Interestingly, in other species of the genus
are largely solitary.
are primarily araneophagic, meaning they eat other spiders, including other salticids. also eat insects and the eggs of other spiders.
are predatory, and they use several methods of predation. One is aggressive vibratory mimicry, in which climb on to the web of their victim and use their legs and palps to pluck signals on the web. They imitate the signals of their intended victim's prey. When the victim comes close to , they make their attack.
jumping spiders. Most cursorial jumping spiders don't build typical webs, but they make small orb-like nests out of silk. make vibratory signals on the silk of the nest. When the salticid pokes its head out to investigate, they attack. This is called nest probing.are specialists at catching cursorial
Another type of predation used byis cryptic stalking. In this method, the hunter moves very slowly. If the prey spider turns to face it, pulls its palps back and out of the prey's view and freezes. In this position resembles a piece of detritus. Eventually it approaches the prey from behind, and swoops in for the kill.
Other jumping spiders of the genus Portia exhibit aggressive mimicry, nest probing, or cryptic stalking. is the only species that exhibits all three behaviors. also displays species-specific predation tactics. The jumping spider Euryattus (species unknown), is sympatric with in the rainforests of Queensland, Australia, but is not known to exist with any other population. Euryattus females do not build a nest, but suspend a rolled-up leaf by silk guylines from a rock ledge or tree trunk. Male Euryattus go down guylines onto the leaves and court by flexing legs and making the leaf rock back and forth. The female comes out of the nest to either mate or drive the male away. mimics the behavior of the male, and when the female comes out of the nest, attacks. Populations of that do not live with Euryattus in nature have been brought into captivity, and do not drop down from guylines to attack Euryattus in this way.
There are no known adverse effects ofon humans.
This species has not been recognized as needing special conservation efforts.
Andrea Jackson (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (editor), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Living in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea and associated islands.
Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing.
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
an animal that mainly eats meat
animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature
having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
specialized for leaping or bounding locomotion; jumps or hops.
remains in the same area
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
Living on the ground.
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
an animal which has an organ capable of injecting a poisonous substance into a wound (for example, scorpions, jellyfish, and rattlesnakes).
Jackson, R. 1985. A web-building jumping spider. (Australian species *Portia fimbriata*). Scientific American, 253: 102-110.
Jackson, R. 1992. Eight-legged Tricksters: spiders that specialize in catching other spiders. BioScience, 42: 590-598.
Jackson, R., R. Wilcox. 1998. Spider-eating spiders. American Scientist, 86: 350-357.
Jackson, R., S. Hallas. 1986. Comparative biology of jumping spiders. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 13: 423-489.
Li, D., R. Jackson. 1997. Influence of diet on survivorship and growth in *Portia fimbriata*, an araneophagic jumping spider (Arnae: Salticidae).. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 75: 1652-1658.