How does the tiger wandering spider see?
The tiger wandering spider (Cupiennius salei) is a spider in the order Araneae. Its eyes belong to the vision type Jumping spider.
Measured in this species: colour, night vision and motion (flicker fusion). Measured core: measured values on at least 3 of the 6 dials. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
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What stands out
- It has three colour receptor classes, like most people, but one of them sees ultraviolet.
- Its sharpest vision resolves 12 cycles per degree: the finest stripe pattern it can tell apart from grey.
- It stops seeing flicker at 6.5 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks choppier to it.[4][5]
- Activity pattern: nocturnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 3 receptor classes: 340 nm (UVS), 480 nm (MWS (green)), 520 nm (MWS (green)) measured in this species | Measured | [1] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Measured | ||
| Sharpness | Acuity 12 cycles per degree group default: median of tier-A values in vision type V26 within phylum Arthropoda (1 species: Portia fimbriata) | Group default | [2] |
| Field of view | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 1 mode of species-v1 relatives in order Araneae: Portia fimbriata | Group default | [2] |
| Fovea type principal eyes: tiered retina (layer 1 = fovea-like) | Group default | [2] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern nocturnal mode of 1 rows (of 1 rows): nocturnal | Measured | [1] |
| Rods vs cones no rods (invertebrate photoreceptors) nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [1] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 6.5 Hz median of 1 bright-light rows (behavioural/whole-eye ERG rows; all rows: [6.45]) | Measured | [3] |
Related animals
- Portia jumping spider same vision type
- Jumping spider (Menemerus fulvus) same vision type
- Jumping spider (Maevia inclemens) same vision type
- Wolf spider (Lycosa baltimoriana) same vision type
- Wolf spider (Lycosa beihaiensis) same vision type
More spiders: all spiders with measured vision data.
Sources
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- species_v1:Williams & McIntyre 1980
- Lafitte A, Sordello R, Legrand M, Nicolas V, Obein G, Reyjol Y. 2022. A flashing light may not be that flashy: A systematic review on critical fusion frequencies. PLoS ONE 17(12): e0279718. S10 File (CFF database). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279718
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?