They are remarkable for their intelligent hunting behaviour, which suggests that they are capable of learning and problem solving, traits normally attributed to much larger animals.

[1] Molecular phylogeny, a technique that compares the DNA of organisms to construct the tree of life, indicates that Portia is a member of a basal clade (i.e. quite similar to the ancestors of all jumping spiders) and that the Spartaeus, Phaeacius, and Holcolaetis genera are its closest relatives.

[6] The 17 described species are found in Africa, Australia, China, Madagascar, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

[16]: 422 Nonetheless, they seem to be relatively slow thinkers, as is to be expected since they solve tactical problems by using brains vastly smaller than those of mammalian predators.

Portia looks like leaf detritus caught in a web, and this is often enough to fool web-building spiders, which have poor eyesight.

[11] When stalking web-building spiders, Portia try to make different patterns of vibrations in the web that aggressively mimic the struggle of a trapped insect or the courtship signals of a male spider, repeating any pattern that induces the intended prey to move towards the Portia.

[22] Portia fimbriata has been observed to perform vibratory behavior for three days until the victim decided to investigate.

[22] Laboratory studies show that Portia learns very quickly how to overcome web-building spiders that neither it nor its ancestors would have met in the wild.

Portia's accurate visual recognition of potential prey is an important part of its hunting tactics.

This appears to be an instinctive behavior, as laboratory-reared Portia of this species do this the first time they encounter a spitting spider.

[22] Against other jumping spiders, which also have excellent vision, Portia may mimic fragments of leaf litter detritus.

As a result, the prey will then react to this visual cue, believing itself to have been seen, providing motion that allows Portia to see and attack it.

[7] P. africana relies on visual features of general morphology and colour (or relative brightness) when identifying prey types.

[44] Cross and Jackson (2014) suggest that P. africana is capable of mentally rotating visual objects held in its working memory.

[42] However, a Portia takes a relatively long time to see objects, possibly because getting a good image out of such small eyes is a complex process and requires a lot of scanning.

[16] When disturbed, some Portia species are known to leap upwards about 100 to 150 millimetres (4 to 6 in) often from the cryptic rest pose, and often over a wide trajectory.