Risk assessment and the use of novel shortcuts in spatial detouring tasks in jumping spiders

Abstract

Selection on individuals that incorporate risk to quickly and accurately make a priori navigational assessments may lead to increased spatial ability. Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) are characterized by their highly acute vision, which mediates many behaviors, including prey capture and navigation. When moving to a specific goal (prey, nest, a potential mate, etc.), salticids rely on visual cues and spatial memory to orient in 3-dimensional space. Salticid spatial ability has been studied in homing and detour tasks, with Portia being considered one of the most skillful genera in terms of spatial ability in the family. Commonly living in complex environments, salticids are likely to encounter a wide variety of routes that could lead to a goal, and, as selection favors individuals that can accurately make assessments, they may be able to assess alternative route distances to select the most efficient route. Here, we tested whether 2 salticid species (Portia fimbriata and Trite planiceps) can discriminate and assess between different available routes by their length, and riskiness to escape from a stressful scenario. Results suggest that while Portia is more likely to choose the easiest and shortest escape routes, Trite is faster in both decision making about which route to take, and to escape. However, some individuals were able to use novel shortcuts instead of the routes expected, with Portia containing a higher proportion of shortcut-takers than Trite. These differences in spatial ability seem to correspond with the environmental complexity inhabited by each species.

Individual differences in risk‐taking affect foraging across different landscapes of fear

“…Behavioural responses of animals to perceived risk are manifold; they vary between species, with intensity, spatial and temporal distribution and predictability of predation risk, and with the expected gain from foraging (Lima and Dill 1990, Houston and McNamara 1999, LaManna and Martin 2016). Moreover, animals can learn to adjust their behaviour in response to changing risks (DePasquale et al 2014, Palmer et al 2017, Aguilar‐Argüello et al 2019).…”

Jumping spiders: An exceptional group for comparative cognition studies

“…Invertebrates show considerable promise as candidates for work in this area. Even though attempts to compare cognitive abilities between spider species are rare (Eberhard, 2007;Eberhard & Wcislo, 2011), comparative studies on salticids suggest that cognitive ability is graded (Aguilar-Arguello, Gerhard, & Nelson, , 2020Cross & Jackson, 2016;Tarsitano & Jackson, 1992. Here, we argue that salticids, which are generally not social, are especially well suited to investigate ecological drivers for cognitive ability, while largely controlling for the effects of social drivers.…”

“…From studies in nature and in the laboratory (Table 1), we now know that salticids can solve tasks that suggest the ability to: (a) remember the position of the objective from the beginning of the detour, (b) use detours that initially take the spider away from the goal, and (c) assess which detours lead, and which do not lead, to the desired objective (Cross & Jackson, 2016, 2019Tarsitano & Jackson, 1997). However, with few exceptions (e.g., Aguilar-Arguello et al, 2020;Cross & Jackson, 2019), there is little information about what features of a detour are actually accounted for in making decisions. In other words, when multiple routes lead to an objective, are more efficient, or less risky routes identified and preferred?…”

“…In contrast, because Portia's habitat and preference for dangerous prey (spiders can kill Portia and thus pose a significant risk) requires them to make complex detours to reach the prey and often to walk through the prey spider's web (Jackson & Hallas, 1986a,b;Jackson & Wilcox, 1993), ecologically derived and foraging niche-based hypotheses seem more likely, although as yet large comparative investigations have not been performed. Comparative studies with a limited number of species, do, however, support these ideas (e.g., Aguilar-Arguello et al, 2020;Cross & Jackson, 2016). Indeed, the very fact that salticids are typically non-social makes them ideal candidates to investigate the relative importance of foraging niche and habitat complexity-based hypotheses.…”

Detour learning ability and the effect of novel sensory cues on learning in Australian bull ants,Myrmecia midas

“…In contrast, spatial reasoning occurs if an individual selects the shortest path to a destination spontaneously on its first trip based on memory and visual inspection (Kabadayi et al, 2018). Detour abilities have been studied in a wide range of taxa including vertebrates such as apes (Kohler, 1925), rats and mice (Juszczak et al, 2016), dogs (Pongracz et al, 2001; Siniscalchi et al, 2013) goats (Naworth et al, 2016; Langbein et al, 2018), horses (Baragli et al, 2011; Baragli et al 2017), marsupials (Wynne and Leguet, 2004), fish (Bisazza et al, 1997; Sovrano et al, 2018; Lucon-Xiccato et al, 2019), birds (Vallortigara et al, 1999; Zucca et al, 2005) and invertebrates such as spiders (Tarsitano and Jackson, 1997; Aguilar-Argüello et al, 2019), and bees (Kevan, 2015; Ong et al, 2017). In most detour experiments, animals have been tested repeatedly to examine their learning abilities (Kabadayi et al, 2018).…”