When not hunting for prey or a mate, Portia species adopt a special posture, called the "cryptic rest posture", pulling their legs in close to the body and their palps back beside the chelicerae ("jaws"), which obscures the outlines of these appendages.
If disturbed, most Portia species leap upwards about 100 to 150 millimetres, often from the cryptic rest pose, and often over a wide trajectory.