Can a Tiny Brain Plan? Reconstructing a Predatory Detour inthe Jumping Spider Portia labiata
- 1Northwestern University
Abstract
Planning is the process of evaluating alternative futures to predict outcomes and guide action. Evidence for this process exists in several vertebrates, but remains contested in in-vertebrates. Jumping spiders in the genus Portia show planning-like behavior in lab studies, but how this translates to the wild is unclear, where hunts of potentially lethal spider prey occur over durations of more than an hour in dense foliage. We present the first fully video-recorded wild hunt of any Portia species, with a 3D reconstruction of its forty-two minute long route to attack an orb-weaving spider. The reconstruction suggests P. labiata may have planned its approach, avoiding a route half as long but potentially more conspicuous to the prey's sensory systems.
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BibTeX
@misc{petrie2026tiny,
title = {{Can a Tiny Brain Plan? Reconstructing a Predatory Detour inthe Jumping Spider Portia labiata}},
author = {F. J. Petrie and M. Tan and C. Li and X. J. Nelson and D. Li and M. A. MacIver},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.04.763773},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.763773v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Can a Tiny Brain Plan? Reconstructing a Predatory Detour inthe Jumping Spider Portia labiata
AU - F. J. Petrie
AU - M. Tan
AU - C. Li
AU - X. J. Nelson
AU - D. Li
AU - M. A. MacIver
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.04.763773
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.763773v1
AB - Planning is the process of evaluating alternative futures to predict outcomes and guide action. Evidence for this process exists in several vertebrates, but remains contested in in-vertebrates. Jumping spiders in the genus Portia show planning-like behavior in lab studies, but how this translates to the wild is unclear, where hunts of potentially lethal spider prey occur over durations of more than an hour in dense foliage. We present the first fully video-recorded wild hunt of any Portia species, with a 3D reconstruction of its forty-two minute long route to attack an orb-weaving spider. The reconstruction suggests P. labiata may have planned its approach, avoiding a route half as long but potentially more conspicuous to the prey's sensory systems.
ER -