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Portia (spider)

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Portia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Araneae
Family:
Salticidae
Genus:
Portia

Karsch, 1878
Species

see text

The Portia spider is a jumping spider which feeds on other spiders (araneophagic).

Distribution

The fifteen species in the genus Portia are found in Africa, Australia, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Hunting techniqes

Unlike most jumping spiders, which prey on insects, Portia uses deception and mimicry to catch and eat other spiders. It is a cryptic spider and an aggressive mimic, meaning that it imitates something its intended victim finds attractive. Resembling a fragment of litter detritus, Portia enters a spider's web and creeps up on its victim almost imperceptibly, though it moves quickly when the wind blows. It also plucks the web to imitate a captured insect (much like the Pirate spider). Then, when the resident spider approaches Portia lunges in for the kill.

Trivia

According to Kefyn Catley, arachnologist and educator at the American Museum of Natural History, this is "the weirdest spider of all". Catley describes it as "a cross between the monster from the black lagoon and a space alien".

Species

Source: The World Spider Catalog, Version 7.0 - Salticidae (updated May 23, 2006)
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