"Portia is so versatile in ferreting out in trial-and-error fashion what works to kill another spider that we've never put Portia up against any web-spinning spider that Portia hasn't been able to kill, whether that spider was one Portia had ever before been associated with in nature or not,"
"Portia, in fact, is such a formidable predator that, in a sort of "evolutionary arms race," some prey spiders have actually "learned" through natural selection to recognize its walk on their web.
When Portia's presence is sensed, these particular prey spiders panic and abandon their web, a drastic response no other spiders tested could provoke in them. The response is aptly termed " Portia panic"(By Wilson and his co-worker)
"When we talk about 'intelligence' with Portia, we're talking about genetically based ability. It's all built in. The versatility of these animals, with their tiny neural systems, is almost unbelievable."
said by R. Stimson Wilcox, studier of Portias since 10 years.
"To be "eaten" by Portia, by the way, could make being chewed up and devoured by some other predator seem almost civil. When Portia pounces on its victim, sometimes after hours of almost imperceptible stalking, it injects a broad-spectrum venom capable of killing virtually any arthropod. It then injects into the subdued prey its own digestive juices, perceptibly deflating its own abdomen in the process"
What do you think? I think it's rad-cool, to speak thusly.
"I might be mostly hardwired, but then why is just looking at me making you uncomfortable?"
"Portia, in fact, is such a formidable predator that, in a sort of "evolutionary arms race," some prey spiders have actually "learned" through natural selection to recognize its walk on their web.
When Portia's presence is sensed, these particular prey spiders panic and abandon their web, a drastic response no other spiders tested could provoke in them. The response is aptly termed " Portia panic"(By Wilson and his co-worker)
"When we talk about 'intelligence' with Portia, we're talking about genetically based ability. It's all built in. The versatility of these animals, with their tiny neural systems, is almost unbelievable."
said by R. Stimson Wilcox, studier of Portias since 10 years.
"To be "eaten" by Portia, by the way, could make being chewed up and devoured by some other predator seem almost civil. When Portia pounces on its victim, sometimes after hours of almost imperceptible stalking, it injects a broad-spectrum venom capable of killing virtually any arthropod. It then injects into the subdued prey its own digestive juices, perceptibly deflating its own abdomen in the process"
What do you think? I think it's rad-cool, to speak thusly.
"I might be mostly hardwired, but then why is just looking at me making you uncomfortable?"
