Miniature spiders (with miniature brains) forget sooner

Complex behavioral plasticity is not reduced in spiderlings with miniature brains

“…In addition, the possibility of behavioral deficits in L . argyra spiderlings with respect to learned rather than unlearned behavior [ 15 ] remains unstudied.…”

“…This suggestion is only preliminary, however, as nothing is known regarding how (or if) brain volume and neuron numbers affect the flexibility of orb construction behavior. In addition, the possibility of behavioral deficits in L. argyra spiderlings with respect to learned rather than unlearned behavior [15] remains unstudied.…”

“…On the other hand, the results of a study of learning, rather than of presumably pre-programmed behavior, contrast with these findings. Small spiderlings of Pholcus phalangioides were apparently less able to retain memories of lost prey, as judged by the time spent searching when searches were postponed experimentally for periods of up to 16 min [ 15 ].…”

Western black widow spiders (Latrodectus hesperus) remember prey capture location and size, but only alter behavior for prey caught at particular sites

“…Some remember the location in the web where they captured prey, and alter their webs to make them better able to capture prey in the web location where past prey captures have occurred (Nakata, 2012). Many web‐building spiders also remember the contents of their web, such as the presence of prey, the relative size of captured prey, and even the relative number of captured prey (Kilmer et al, 2018; Kilmer & Rodriguez, 2019; Rodríguez et al, 2013; Rodríguez et al, 2015; Rodríguez & Gamboa, 2000; Rodríguez & Gloudeman, 2011).…”

“…A different kind of searching can occur in the absence of a “triggering” stimulus. This searching is prolonged and non‐directional (see below), with the spider walking around the web and pulling or plucking on web threads to gain vibrational information (e.g., Movie S1), and occurs whenever the layout of the web is changed in the spider's absence (so the spider seeks to re‐orient itself) (LeGuelte, 1969; Sergi et al, 2021), or when an item in the web is removed (so the spiders seeks to re‐acquire it) (Kilmer et al, 2018; Kilmer & Rodriguez, 2019; Opell, 2001; Rodríguez et al, 2013; Rodríguez et al, 2015; Rodríguez & Gamboa, 2000; Rodríguez & Gloudeman, 2011). Consequently, this searching indicates the presence of a memory about the aspect of the web that has been changed.…”