Tarantula intelligence

[Earth Tiger]

i know this topic appears from time to time.

I think Ts are quite intelligent, and in fact,
its cousin, Portia, a type of jumping spider,
shows extraordinary level of unparalleled
intelligence on par with higher vertebrates:

Here is the research article and you can
read it if you (or your institute) have subscribed
to the journal:

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?ind...ame=PQD&TS=1065810570&clientId=17557#fulltext

or you can read the detailed summary here:

http://inside.binghamton.edu/September-October/23Oct97/spider.html

 

[DnKslr]

"If you see a spider and it whips around and looks at you with two big eyes, it's a jumping spider,"

Yup! I've seen those here many times! I've tried to catch one this summer that had the most beautiful metallics greens but the little bugger was too fast for me! Seemed almost like it was sensing what I was gonna do before I did it.
I think some T's are intelligent, some just rely on instinct. For example, my G pulchra had quite a bit of trouble getting a cricket the other day. Every time it struck at it, the damn thing would hop away (it had really strong legs too). After several tries I observed the little sling climb the side of the cup. I thought it had given up but boy was I wrong! It slowly crept closer to the cricket while still staying near the top of the cup. Soon it was directly above the cricket, suddenly it threw itself off the side and grabbed the cricket with all of its legs even rolling around in the dirt for a few seconds! I have to say it was definately the most awesome display I've seen so far and I'm convinced it was a well "conceived" strategy for spider!

 

[MrFeexit]

WOW that is an amazing article! Very interesting. Even as a kid I thought that jumping spiders seemed "smart" now to see that I was not alone in that thinking is pretty cool!

 

[Mendi]

I saw a Portia on a TV program navigating its remembered path to it's spider food (they prey on other spiders mostly from what I remember) I would love to have one, but found that this particular species is found in Africa. It would make a great imported pet though. The ones here in the Americas I don't believe have been researched to the extent of the little Portia. I'm sure our native jumpers are quite inteligent as well, as any creature with vision so advanced has got to have some problem solving skills

 

[MrFeexit]

Plus with their big eyes they are so darn cute!!

 

[DarkRAM]

Originally posted by Mendi
I saw a Portia on a TV program navigating its remembered path to it's spider food (they prey on other spiders mostly from what I remember)

I saw something as well, I think it was the Animal Planet and maybe Most Extreme Hunters or something like that. It was pretty impressive for such a little creature.

 

[Betty]

I started a thread with some great jumping spider pics here.