Do spiders remember you and do they have a memory?

ANIMALS such as dogs and cats tend to remember their favourite humans.

Some people tend to have spiders as pets, and this might make you wonder whether the crawlies can remember their owners just like a dog or cat would.

Do spiders remember you?

While studies have shown that spiders are very intelligent creatures, they still have very small brains with a limited amount of space to carry out tasks and think.

You do not hold a special place in that brain and hence a spider will not remember you.

The main reason is that they have very poor eyesight and so they won't see you and remember you.

Spiders do not need eyesight because to catch their prey, they simply build a web, sit back and wait for bugs to enter the trap.

To catch their prey, spiders use vibrations to understand what is going on around them.

With all of these going on in their tiny brain, spiders do not have space to remember your face, but instead, they keep a memory of their web.

Do spiders have a memory?

So spiders do carry a memory, just not of you.

This was proven by a study on a Portia Africana in 2014.

This spider has the ability to jump and so it was exposed to a lure - which was made to be prey.

A screen was placed between the spider and the lure for 90 seconds.

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The screen was lifted and the Portia jumped the prey.

The experiment was repeated a few times.

It was discovered that even though the lure had its position changed or even replaced, the Portia still could identify its position and jump it.

This showed that spiders do in fact carry a memory, in this case, it was of how the vibrations felt before the screen was put between the Portia and the lure.

When the screen was removed, the Portia remembered the lure's vibrations and managed to capture it.

Are spiders friendly to humans?

Spiders are not unfriendly animals and will not try to hurt a human on purpose.

It depends on the characteristics of a spider.

If a spider bites, then it will not be particularly friendly.

Other than that, most spiders are friendly unless they feel threatened.

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