A University of Canterbury animal behaviour expert is part of a global team launching pioneering research into the
predatory behaviour of jumping spiders.An image of a male (L) and a female (R) Portia fimbriata (Portia Spider) checking each other out. Photo credit: Matt
Walters.
Professor Ximena Nelson, Associate Head of the School of Biological Sciences at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, has
become one of just a handful of New Zealand researchers to be awarded funding from the international Human Frontier Science Program.
Professor Nelson says the new study, which has received $1.35 million over three years from the HFSP, will explore the
predatory cat-like behaviour of Portia jumping spiders, which live in tropical forests and feed on other spiders. She
says Portia spiders often take long detours in order to stalk other spiders unseen rather than confronting their prey
head-on, which makes them similar to large predators.
“Portia spiders spend long periods observing their prey and scanning the environment, reminiscent of lions on the
African savanna peeking over tall grass while slowly approaching an antelope for a surprise attack.”
This behaviour suggests the spiders are assessing, comparing the rewards and risks of various options, and forming a
plan before taking action.
Professor Nelson says the new research is the first investigation of what factors determine this planning behaviour;
whether it is good vision or the type of habitat – open and desert-like or densely complex as in a rainforest – the
spiders are in.
“Notably, Portia’s vision is exceptionally good among invertebrates, with visual acuity higher than a cheetah, despite
being more than 100 times smaller,” Professor Nelson says.
The new research will test whether planning is possible, not only in mammals and birds with large brains, but also in
small animals with tiny brains such as Portia, which has a brain with less than 1 million times fewer neurons than a
human brain.
“Our findings will be significant because they could lead to the development of algorithms that enable the creation of
artificial planning systems in machines with severe power constraints, such as those used on space missions. This may
have implications for artificial intelligence,” Professor Nelson says.
She is collaborating with researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Northwestern University in the United States, and
Hubei University in China, on the project which will integrate field, lab, robotics-development, and computer-simulation
work.