We investigated whether biological relevance affects the perceptual processes underlying prey classification in jumping spiders (Salticidae). We used choice experiments with abstract and realistic representations of prey to test whether Hypoblemum albovittatum, a generalist predator, differs in how it classifies prey compared with Evarcha culicivora, which specialises on preying on blood-fed Anopheles mosquitoes. Unlike E. culicivora, H. albovittatum preferentially chose realistic over abstract representations of prey. Both species had similar decision times when choosing realistic images, which for H. albovittatum was similar to its decision time with abstract stimuli. In contrast, E. culicivora was significantly faster at making a decision when these were abstract images of Anopheles. These results suggest that E. culicivora uses key feature extraction methods when confronted with its preferred prey, but otherwise relies on holistic processing of an object, which appears to be the mechanism used by H. albovittatum.
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