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Highly relevant is the Portia genus of spiders ([0], [1]) and apparently other related jumping spiders ([2]). One of my favorite excerpts from [1]: > Harland

Highly relevant is the Portia genus of spiders ([0], [1]) and apparently other related jumping spiders ([2]). One of my favorite excerpts from [1]: > Harland says Portia’s eyesight is the place to start. Jumping spiders already have excellent vision and Portia’s is ten times as good, making it sharper than most mammals. However being so small, there is a trade-off in that Portia can only focus its eyes on a tiny spot. It has to build up a picture of the world by scanning almost pixel by pixel across the visual scene. Whatever Portia ends up seeing, the information is accumulated slowly, as if peering through a keyhole, over many minutes. So there might be something a little like visual experience, but nothing like a full and “all at once” experience of a visual field. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portia_(spider) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portia_(spider) [1] - http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_spider%20minds.html http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_spider%20minds.ht... [2] - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160121-jumping-spiders-animals-science/ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160121-jumping-sp...

nickpsecurity 10y ago
Their hunting strategies are awesome: http://portiaspiders.weebly.com/hunting-strategies.html http://portiaspiders.weebly.com/hunting-strategies.html
pavel_lishin 10y ago
Portia spiders are also referenced in Peter Watts' Echopraxia. (Some spoilers could be inferred from thinking about this too hard while reading the novel.)
- joshmarlow 10y ago
  Yep! Watts' novels are how I first heard about Portia. I can't wait for the third in the trilogy. In general, I love a good novel with a bibliography.
  - david-given 10y ago
    For people who don't believe that spiders can be cute: https://adlayasanimals.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/u2byv.jpg https://adlayasanimals.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/u2byv.jpg Also, I got interested and tried to find some documentation on Portia Labiata after reading Watts' book, and there's very, very little, but what he says appears to be true. They do have telescopic eyes with vibrating retinas. They do spend ages painstakingly scanning a scene before moving. They are absurdly intelligent for insects. I don't know if Watts' suggestion that they timeshare pattern-matching areas of their brains is true, but it seems plausible. Here's a good article: http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_spider%20minds.html http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_spider%20minds.ht...
    - dsp1234 10y ago
      If you're afraid of spiders, I would suggest not clicking on that link. I was hoping for cute, but that is just a very large closeup of a spider, and it definitely just hit the fear instinct.
      - nickpsecurity 10y ago
        That one is ugly. The jumping spiders have a neater look due to their colors. The really colorful ones with big eyes might not hit fear instinct so hard. Try this one I cherry-picked: http://www.arachne.org.au/_dbase_upl/spi_mm.jpg http://www.arachne.org.au/_dbase_upl/spi_mm.jpg
        Freaky 10y ago
        More colourful cutie: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143940344@N06/31492457834/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/143940344@N06/31492457834/in/d... And a nice fluffy white one with very stubby legs: http://www.jumpingspiders.co.za/images/main/187.jpg http://www.jumpingspiders.co.za/images/main/187.jpg Via https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5o7nmg/my_favorite_local_jumping_spider_i_find_them/ https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5o7nmg/my_favori... and https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5lar18/floof_spider/ https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5lar18/floof_spi...
- solipsism 10y ago
  Some spoilers could be inferred from thinking about this too hard while reading the novel Not.. if you don't say that...
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    Yeah, I guess it's a bit like saying "don't think about a pink elephant", but not saying that doesn't guarantee that they won't think of a pink elephant. And I'd wager that people who would read about the Portia, and would read Blindsight and Echopraxia are the type to think long and hard about such topics anyway.
  - taneq 10y ago
    Well, iirc they do actually reference these spiders right there in the novel, so it's not THAT much of a spoiler.
- smallnamespace 10y ago
  Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time is another novel where Portia spiders are featured prominently (great book btw).
- d0lph 10y ago
  Shouldn't you put the spoiler warning before the spoiler?
dghughes 10y ago
Quickly skimming those but I think I've read most of those I do recall reading the Portia spider's eyes don't move but instead it rotates its brain. It can mimic the footsteps of other spiders by plucking the web of the spider it's going to kill. Doesn't the name comes from Portia in the Merchant of Venice a devious character? Jumping spiders are cool we have the stripy ones in my region. Spider give me the creeps but not jumping spiders I think it's due to the shorter legs and small size.
stil 10y ago
That's so different from our concept of vision. It would be like watching a web cam that surveils a park, but only refreshes small bits of the screen at a time. You might see a headless woman strolling along, etc

nickpsecurity 10y ago

Their hunting strategies are awesome: http://portiaspiders.weebly.com/hunting-strategies.html http://portiaspiders.weebly.com/hunting-strategies.html

pavel_lishin 10y ago

Portia spiders are also referenced in Peter Watts' Echopraxia. (Some spoilers could be inferred from thinking about this too hard while reading the novel.)

joshmarlow 10y ago
Yep! Watts' novels are how I first heard about Portia. I can't wait for the third in the trilogy. In general, I love a good novel with a bibliography.
- david-given 10y ago
  For people who don't believe that spiders can be cute: https://adlayasanimals.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/u2byv.jpg https://adlayasanimals.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/u2byv.jpg Also, I got interested and tried to find some documentation on Portia Labiata after reading Watts' book, and there's very, very little, but what he says appears to be true. They do have telescopic eyes with vibrating retinas. They do spend ages painstakingly scanning a scene before moving. They are absurdly intelligent for insects. I don't know if Watts' suggestion that they timeshare pattern-matching areas of their brains is true, but it seems plausible. Here's a good article: http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_spider%20minds.html http://www.dichotomistic.com/mind_readings_spider%20minds.ht...
  - dsp1234 10y ago
    If you're afraid of spiders, I would suggest not clicking on that link. I was hoping for cute, but that is just a very large closeup of a spider, and it definitely just hit the fear instinct.
    - nickpsecurity 10y ago
      That one is ugly. The jumping spiders have a neater look due to their colors. The really colorful ones with big eyes might not hit fear instinct so hard. Try this one I cherry-picked: http://www.arachne.org.au/_dbase_upl/spi_mm.jpg http://www.arachne.org.au/_dbase_upl/spi_mm.jpg
      - Freaky 10y ago
        More colourful cutie: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143940344@N06/31492457834/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/143940344@N06/31492457834/in/d... And a nice fluffy white one with very stubby legs: http://www.jumpingspiders.co.za/images/main/187.jpg http://www.jumpingspiders.co.za/images/main/187.jpg Via https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5o7nmg/my_favorite_local_jumping_spider_i_find_them/ https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5o7nmg/my_favori... and https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5lar18/floof_spider/ https://www.reddit.com/r/awwnverts/comments/5lar18/floof_spi...
solipsism 10y ago
Some spoilers could be inferred from thinking about this too hard while reading the novel Not.. if you don't say that...
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  Yeah, I guess it's a bit like saying "don't think about a pink elephant", but not saying that doesn't guarantee that they won't think of a pink elephant. And I'd wager that people who would read about the Portia, and would read Blindsight and Echopraxia are the type to think long and hard about such topics anyway.
- taneq 10y ago
  Well, iirc they do actually reference these spiders right there in the novel, so it's not THAT much of a spoiler.
smallnamespace 10y ago
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time is another novel where Portia spiders are featured prominently (great book btw).
d0lph 10y ago
Shouldn't you put the spoiler warning before the spoiler?

dghughes 10y ago

Quickly skimming those but I think I've read most of those I do recall reading the Portia spider's eyes don't move but instead it rotates its brain. It can mimic the footsteps of other spiders by plucking the web of the spider it's going to kill. Doesn't the name comes from Portia in the Merchant of Venice a devious character? Jumping spiders are cool we have the stripy ones in my region. Spider give me the creeps but not jumping spiders I think it's due to the shorter legs and small size.

stil 10y ago

That's so different from our concept of vision. It would be like watching a web cam that surveils a park, but only refreshes small bits of the screen at a time. You might see a headless woman strolling along, etc