Spider question

[The Snark]

On the ladder of evolution, animals are placed according to their ability to adapt and interact with their environment. With a primitive animal, alter the environment, it dies off.

Now take a salticid. Place your hand near it and it backs off and runs away in fear.
So you have a degree of environmental awareness. Then, repeat the action and eventually the spider, if not threatened by the hand, will come to accept it and walk on the hand. It has adapted.
Next in the higher order of brain functions is memory. Repeated introducing the hand to the salticid and then try the same thing the next day. Often, the spider will remember hand. If the hand is hairy, it will also remember that as being hard to negotiate.

For example, we have several hand oriented salticids on our porch that have climbed on my hand and my wifes. When both her and I put our hands down for the spiders they accept them but usually avoid jumping on my hand. They will unhesitatingly jump on and patrol my wifes hand though.

Does anyone know of any other spider that adapts so quickly and readily to an alteration in their proximity and is able to remember this alteration?

 

[schmiggle]

I know it's not the same thing, but social spiders have been shown to act differently when alone versus when with a remembered group of other social spiders. When with other spiders, they settle into their remembered social place.

 

[ErinM31]

I believe that Salticids are among the most intelligent spiders, especially those that hunt other spiders (Cross and Jackson 2015 Animal Cognition). Other spiders such as Lycosids can learn, but whether this adaptability is generalized or is only within very predefined parameters such as mating has not, to my knowledge, been explored.

 

[Biollantefan54]

The most intelligent spider is a jumping spider, Portis sp. I think most spiders have the ability to adapt but I am not sure if that necessarily means intelligence

 

[schmiggle]

I think most spiders have the ability to adapt but I am not sure if that necessarily means intelligence

At some point it becomes an issue of semantics. Even flatworms can learn things--they've been shown to associate certain environmental cues with food abundance, but they retain those memories after their head has been cut off--because, of course, they have no central nervous system. Predatory sea slugs are the same: they can learn to avoid toxic prey items after an unpleasant experience, but they, too, lack a central nervous system.

At that point, what does intelligence mean? I prefer to talk about intelligent behavior rather than having a single thing to look for that defines intelligence. That way you can also cut out certain people.

 

[RTTB]

I wonder if it has anything to do with vision. I assume the field of vision for salticids is more enhanced then other spiders to align with their lightning reflexes jumping ability and depth perception. Maybe a misguided notion on my part but they seem to be a spider that takes everything in.

 

[schmiggle]

Salticids definitely have better vision than the "average" spider, and I think the spider with the best vision is a salticid. However, both gladiator spiders and wolf spiders also have exceptionally good vision.

 

[Smokehound714]

The P audax around my house will all suddenly hide when a door is opened or close, then emerge a couple of minutes later.

That's pretty impressive IMO. That's something you'd expect from a vertebrate

 

[Ratmosphere]

The intelligence of jumping spiders is one of the reasons why they are my favorite true spider.