Portia (genus)
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/* Footnotes */ {{reflist}}
{{Taxobox
| image = Portia.fimbriata.female.-.tanikawa.jpg
| image_caption = female ''P. fimbriata''
| image_width = 250px
| name = ''Portia''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Arthropoda]]
| classis = [[Arachnida]]
| ordo = [[Spider|Araneae]]
| familia = [[Salticidae]]
| subfamilia = [[Spartaeinae]]
| tribus = [[Spartaeini]]
| genus = '''''Portia'''''
| genus_authority = [[Friedrich Karsch|Karsch]], [[1878]]
| diversity_link = List of Salticidae species#Portia
| diversity = 17 species
| type_species = ''[[Portia fimbriata|Salticus fimbriatus]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Ludwig Doleschall|Doleschall]], 1859
| range_map =
| range_map_width = 250px
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
see text
}}
'''Portia''' is a [[genus]] of [[jumping spider|jumping]] [[spider]] which feeds on other spiders (araneophagic).
==Distribution==
The 17 described [[species]] are found in [[Africa]], [[Australia]], [[China]], [[Malaysia]], [[Myanmar]], [[Nepal]], [[India]], [[Sri Lanka]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Vietnam]].
==Hunting techniques==
[[Image:Portia.fimbriata.male.-.tanikawa.jpg|thumb|left|250px|male ''P. fimbriata'']]
Most jumping spiders [[prey]] mainly upon [[insect]]s, only taking other spiders if the opportunity arises. ''Portia'', however, is different, using deception and mimicry to catch and eat other spiders, which is known as araneophagy. On rare occasions, it will capture and consume an insect as well. It is a cryptic spider and an [[Aggressive mimicry|aggressive mimic]], meaning that it imitates something its intended victim finds harmless or even attractive.
The mimicry is of two kinds: first, it resembles a fragment of litter detritus. This is a camouflage against other jumping spiders that have relatively superior vision. This way, it can get very close and kill the other spider. Second, it shows a kind of behavioral mimicry: ''Portia'' enters a [[spider web|spider's web]] and creeps up on its victim almost imperceptibly, though it moves quickly when the wind blows. It then plucks the web to imitate a captured insect or a male mating call which will attract the female spiders which is fortunate for the portia spider, but sometimes the prey of the portia spider does not respond and the portia spider resorts to alternative tactics (much like the [[Pirate spider]]). If the Portia spider is successful the resident spider approaches, ''Portia'' lunges in for the kill.
''Portia'' preys on just about every kind of web-building spider, if it is from 10% up to double its own size. It varies its web signals to suit its specific victim. If it encounters a new spider species, it tries different signals rather randomly. Should one signal elicit a response from the victim, ''Portia'' will stop the random signals, and focus on the successful one. <ref name=Harland2000>Harland & Jackson 2000</ref> ''Portia fimbriata'' has been observed to perform vibratory behavior for three days until the victim decided to investigate.
[[Image:Portia.fimbriata.female.in.its.web.-.tanikawa.jpg|thumb|left|250px|female ''P. fimbriata'' in its web]]
Philippine ''Portia'' species approach eggless [[spitting spider]]s from the rear, whose preferred prey are jumping spiders.{{Fact|date=September 2007}} Egg-carrying spitting spiders are approached head on.
Although taxonomically in the ''jumping spider'' family, it does not jump, because then it would lose its detritus camouflage.
Unlike other jumping spiders, ''Portia'' sometimes builds a web which it fastens to the web of a future victim. Should the web catch insects, ''Portia'' will wait for the other spider instead of feeding on the insect.
Their two-lens camera [[eyes]] allow them the accurate vision necessary for such complex behavior. They can see as clearly as a [[pigeon]], but only a minute piece at a time. They are, for example, unable to discern the shape of a [[praying mantis]], because it is too big for its field of vision. They have six eye muscles to move the field of vision around.
==Reproduction==
''Portia'' exhibits a different mating behavior and strategy compared to other jumping spiders. In most jumping spiders, males mount females to mate. In ''Portia'' the female drops a dragline after the male mounts her, mating in mid-air. Before this happens the male shows off his legs and extends them stiffly and shakes them to attract the female. the female then drums on the web. Mating with Portia spiders can occur off or on the web.
The spider also practices [[cannibalism]] before and after copulation. The female usually twists and lunges at the mounted male (''P. fimbriata'' however, is an exception; it does not usually exhibit such behavior.). If the male is killed before completing copulation, the male sperm is removed and the male is then eaten. If the male finishes mating before being killed, the sperm is kept for [[fertilization]] and the male is eaten. A majority of males are usually killed during sexual encounters.
==Species==
* ''[[Portia africana]]'' <small>([[Eugène Simon|Simon]], 1886)</small> — [[West Africa|West]], [[Central Africa]]
* ''[[Portia albimana]]'' <small>(Simon, 1900)</small> — [[India]] to [[Vietnam]]
* ''[[Portia assamensis]]'' <small>[[Fred R. Wanless|Wanless]], 1978</small> — India to [[Malaysia]]
* ''[[Portia crassipalpis]]'' <small>(Peckham & Peckham, 1907)</small> — [[Singapore]], [[Borneo]]
* ''[[Portia fimbriata]]'' <small>(Doleschall, 1859)</small> — [[Nepal]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[Taiwan]] to [[Australia]]
* ''[[Portia heteroidea]]'' <small>Xie & Yin, 1991</small> — [[China]]
* ''[[Portia hoggi]]'' <small>Zabka, 1985</small> — Vietnam
* ''[[Portia jianfeng]]'' <small>Song & Zhu, 1998</small> — China
* ''[[Portia labiata]]'' <small>(Thorell, 1887)</small> — Sri Lanka to [[Philippines]]
* ''[[Portia orientalis]]'' <small>Murphy & Murphy, 1983</small> — [[Hong Kong]]
* ''[[Portia quei]]'' <small>Zabka, 1985</small> — China, Vietnam
* ''[[Portia schultzi]]'' <small>Karsch, 1878</small> — Central, [[East Africa|East]], [[Southern Africa]], [[Madagascar]]
* ''[[Portia songi]]'' <small>Tang & Yang, 1997</small> — China
* ''[[Portia strandi]]'' <small>Caporiacco, 1941</small> — [[Ethiopia]]
* ''[[Portia taiwanica]]'' <small>Zhang & Li, 2005</small> — Taiwan
* ''[[Portia wui]]'' <small>Peng & Li, 2002</small> — China
* ''[[Portia zhaoi]]'' <small>Peng, Li & Chen, 2003</small> — China
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* {{aut|Harland, D.P & Jackson R.R.}} (2000): 'Eight-legged cats' and how they see - a review of recent research on jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). ''Cimbebasia'' '''16''': 231-240 [http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/ccnr/Papers/Downloads/Harland_Cimb2000.pdf PDF] - vision and behavior in ''Portia'' spiders.
* {{aut|Harland, D.P. & Jackson, R.R.}} (2006): A knife in the back: use of prey-specific attack tactics by araneophagic jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). ''Journal of Zoology'' '''269'''(3): 285-290. {{DOI|10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00112.x}}
* {{aut|Platnick, Norman I.}} (2007): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog], version 8.0. ''American Museum of Natural History''.
==External links==
{{commons|Portia}}
*[http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/portia/portia.htm Description in the ''Diagnostic Drawing Library'']
* [http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/spiders/text/Portia_labiata.htm Guide to Common Singapore Spiders: ''P. labiata'']
*[http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/portia/labia-ph.htm Photographs of ''P. labiata'']
*[http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/portia/fimbr-ph.htm Photographs of ''P. fimbriata'']
*[http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/portia/schul-ph.htm Photographs of ''P. schultzi'']
*[http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/portia/afric-ph.htm Photographs of ''P. africana'']
*[http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/portia/quei-jph.htm Photographs of ''P. quei'']
*[http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/species-bank/sbank-image.pl?id=sbank_209i.jfif&text=Portia%20fimbriata%20full%20frontalZZFringed%20Jumping%20Spider%20in%20full%20frontal%20viewZZCreator:%20Mike%20Gray%20%C2%A9%20M.%20Gray/Australian%20Museum Frontal view of ''P. fimbriata'']
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/species-bank/sbank-treatment.pl?id=75622 Information about ''P. fimbriata''] (with distribution in Australia)
*[http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/courses/en507/papers_2001/odenbeck.htm Prey capture and mating behavior in jumping spiders belonging to the genus Portia]
[[Category:Salticidae]]
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