Despite being much smaller than us, spiders strike fear into the hearts of many humans.
Perhaps, it is their hairy bodies. Or, perhaps, it is their cluster of eyes. Whatever the reason, spiders scare a significant amount of people. But, more importantly, spiders scare a significant amount of spiders. How? Well, aside from female spiders devouring male spiders during/after sex, some species of spiders primarily prey upon other spiders.
Jumping spiders in the genus Portia are renowned for their taste for spider sushi. These spiders are highly intelligent and use trial-and-error to overcome obstacles and hunt big, dangerous prey. They prefer to pursue web-building spiders between 10% and 200% of their size.
In the gif below, watch as a Portia jumping spider ambushes and attacks a web-building spider much larger than itself.
In addition to eating other spiders, Portia jumping spiders are incredibly sociable and intelligent (for spiders). Members of the species Portia africana have been observed living together and sharing prey, much like a pride of lions or pack of wolves. This is what sets them apart from other spiders and allows them to feast upon other spiders much larger than themselves.
Watch the spider in action in the video below:
