Maratus volans
| Gliding spider | |
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| Species: | M. volans
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| Binomial name | |
| Maratus volans (O. P-Cambridge, 1874)
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Saitis volans | |
The Peacock spider or Gliding spider (Maratus volans) is a species of jumping spider. The red, blue and black colored males have flap-like extensions of the abdomen with white hairs that can be folded down. They are used for display during mating: the male raises his abdomen, then expands and raises the flaps so that the abdomen forms a white-fringed, circular field of color. The species, and indeed the whole genus Maratus have been compared to peacocks in this respect. The third pair of legs is also raised for display, showing a brush of black hairs and white tips. While approaching the female, the male will then vibrate raised legs and tail, and dance from side to side.
Description
Both sexes reach about 5 mm in body length. Females and immatures of both sexes are brown with no distinct pattern.
Distribution
M. volans is confined to eastern parts of Australia (Queensland, New South Wales)[1].
Name
The species name means "flying" in Latin, because it was at first thought that the flaps help the spider in gliding.
Relationships
While the courtship dance is similar to those of genus Saitis (the European S. barbipes also uses its third pair of legs for display), the two genera are possibly not closely related.
Footnotes
- ^ Platnick 2009
References
- Ed Nieuwenhuis: Peacock spider
- Platnick, Norman I. (2009): The world spider catalog, version 9.5. American Museum of Natural History.