Naw naw naw. Primal urges like the sex drive and hunger ~= the urge to scratch what itches. There's immediate pay-off. And animals can satisfy their libido when in heat w/o anticipating that gestation and a new litter will result.
This spider builds a decoy and has no immediate satisfaction like orgasm or being sated post-meal. Furthermore, designing & building a decoy [AND JIGGLING said decoy when a predator approaches] require a spider to anticipate a predator's reaction to the moving decoy (being scared off). Do spiders have a "theory of mind?"
Maybe natural selection explains it. Spiders who built decoys with 8 legs survived. Spiders who built swastika-shaped decoys were all consumed by predators. -_-
--> aq out <--
How does the instinct to do that develop?
