"Portia" is in the subfamily Spartaeinae, which is thought to be primitive.Molecular phylogeny, a technique that compares the DNA of organisms to reconstruct the tree of life, indicates that "Portia" is a member of the clade Spartaeinae, that Spartaeinae is basal (quite similar to the ancestors of all jumping spiders), that "Portia"′s closest relative is the genus "Spartaeus", and that the next closest are "Phaeacius" and "Holcolaetis".