Optical cues used in predation by jumping spiders, Phidippus audax (Araneae, Salticidae)

► Jumping spiders are well known for their excellent vision. ► We studied the relative roles of shape and global and local motion of video stimuli in eliciting spiders' predatory attacks. ► Aversive conditioning allowed us to determine when spiders were unable to perceive differences between stimuli. ► Spiders relied more on motion than on shape and were unable to distinguish some moving images based on shape alone.