When researchers take away a black widow’s prey, the spider can remember how large the prey was and where it was in the web, and it will search harder for larger missing grubs
Black widow spiders can remember their prey
Shutterstock/Jay Ondreicka
Some web-building spiders can form memories of the prey they catch, and the rare the ability has now been documented in black widows, who can retain information about their prey’s size and the location where it was ensnared in the spider’s web.
After Clint Sergi’s previous research revealed that black widows can make mental maps of their webs, he and his colleagues were eager to see if the black-and-red arachnids could form memories of their meals.
Sergi, who was at the …