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. For example, in one part of the Philippines, local "Portia" spiders attack from the rear against the very dangerous spitting spiders, which themselves hunt jumping spiders. This appears to be an instinctive behavior, as laboratory-reared "Portia" of this species do this the first time they encounter a spitting spider. On the other hand, they will use a head-on approach against spitting spiders that are carrying eggs. However, experiments that pitted "Portia" against "convincing" artificial spiders with arbitrary but consistent behavior patterns showed that "Portia"'s instinctive tactics are only starting points for a trial-and-error approach from which these spiders learn very quickly.