Study
Structure of the Retinae of the Principal Eyes of Jumping Spiders (Salticidae: Dendryphantinae) in Relation to Visual Optics
Land, Michael F.
Journal of Experimental Biology, 1969
The principal eyes of jumping spiders were examined optically, exploiting the fact that the retina can be seen through the cornea, and retinal movements were tracked while visual targets were presented.
- Studied in
- Metaphidippus
- Sample size
- jumping spiders with retinal movements observed through the cornea
The principal eyes have a long, narrow, boomerang-shaped retina with very high acuity but a field of view only a few degrees wide. The retina is moved by muscles — scanned side to side, up and down and rotated — to sweep the high-resolution strip across the scene.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Jumping spiders achieve high visual acuity in a tiny eye by scanning a narrow high-resolution retina rather than by building a large one.
How NatureHQ reads it
This is a genuinely different solution to seeing. A vertebrate builds a wide retina and moves the eye; a jumping spider keeps the eye still and moves the retina behind it, scanning like a flatbed scanner. It is what lets an animal a few millimetres across resolve prey well enough to stalk and judge a jump — acuity comparable to a pigeon’s, in an eye smaller than a pinhead. It also constrains the animal: at any instant it is seeing a sliver, and the picture is assembled over time.
- One genus, using optical observation rather than direct recording.
- Acuity comparisons across very different visual systems are approximate.
- How the scanned strips are integrated into a percept is not addressed.
Watching a retina move behind a fixed eye
How does an animal a few millimetres long get vision sharp enough to stalk prey and judge a jump?
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: The Company of BiologistsPublished by The Company of Biologists.
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-10.