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Spatial acuity-sensitivity trade-off in the principal eyes of a jumping spider: possible adaptations to a ‘blended’ lifestyle

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Abstract

Jumping spiders (Salticidae) are diurnal visual predators known for elaborate, vision-mediated behaviour achieved through the coordinated work of four pairs of camera-type eyes. One pair (‘principal’ eyes) is responsible for colour and high spatial acuity vision, while three pairs (‘secondary’ eyes) are mostly responsible for motion detection. Based on its unusual capacity to visually discriminate specific prey in very low, but also under bright light settings, we investigated the structure of the principal and one pair of secondary eyes (antero-lateral eyes) of Cyrba algerina to determine how these eyes achieve the sensitivity, while maintaining spatial acuity, needed to sustain behaviour in low light. Compared to salticids that live in bright light, the principal eyes of C. algerina have a short focal length, and wide contiguous twin rhabdomeres that support optical pooling, overall favouring sensitivity (0.39 μm2), but without fully compromising acuity (12.4 arc min). The antero-lateral eye retinae have large receptors surrounded by pigment granules, providing effective shielding from scattered light. These adaptations may be beneficial for a xeric salticid species with a ‘blended’ lifestyle: generally living and hunting under stones in the dark, but sometimes venturing above them, in dramatically different light conditions.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Aynsley McNab for help in spider maintenance, Duane Harland for help with calculations and Jan McKenzie for her mentoring with the microscopy work. We would also like to acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers for their extremely helpful comments and contribution to the improvement of this paper. All applicable international, national, and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

Funding

Our research was supported by grants to RRJ from the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund (M1096, M1079), the National Geographic Society (8676-09, WW-146R-17), the US National Institutes of Health (R01-AI077722) and FCT/MCTES (UIDP/50017/2020+UIDB/50017/2020) through national funds. AMC was also funded by national funds (OE), through FCT in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19.

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  1. Ana M. Cerveira

    Present address: CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand

    Ana M. Cerveira, Ximena J. Nelson & Robert R. Jackson

  2. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Ana M. Cerveira

  3. International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Thomas Odhiambo Campus, P.O. Box 30, Mbita Point, Kenya

    Robert R. Jackson

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RRJ and AMC conceptualised the study and carried out experiments. All authors contributed to the writing of the paper.

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Correspondence to Ana M. Cerveira.

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Cerveira, A.M., Nelson, X.J. & Jackson, R.R. Spatial acuity-sensitivity trade-off in the principal eyes of a jumping spider: possible adaptations to a ‘blended’ lifestyle. J Comp Physiol A 207, 437–448 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01486-2

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