Portia Labiata - Ecology

Ecology

P. labiata is found in Sri Lanka, India, Burma (Myanmar), Malaysia, Singapore, Java, Sumatra and the Philippines.

The populations of P. labiata in Los Baños and in Sagada, both in the Philippines, have different environments: Los Baños is a low-lying tropical rainforest where there are many species of spiders, some of which are especially dangerous to P. labiata; and Sagada is at higher altitude, with pine-forest and fewer species of spiders, none of which are as dangerous to P. labiata. The Los Baños variant has a slightly wider repertoire of tactics.

In the Philippines, P. labiata does not prey on ants, but is preyed on by the ants Oecophylla smaragdina and Odontomachus sp. (species uncertain), and a solitary Odontomachus has been seen attacking a P. labiata. In a test the ant Diacamma vagans usually killed single-handed a P. labiata.