On 29 December 2023 Jurgen Otto and David Hill described Maratus yanchep in Peckhamia 311.1. The species stands out in particular by its variability, each known individual looking strikingly different. The species which leaves in the Yanchep area north of Perth was discovered by Reef Coakley, Lucyna Kania and Nick Volpe. At the time of writing the only known location it has been found in is earmarked for extensive development.
Maratus nambung, a new species of peacock spider from near Nambung National Park
On 15 November 2023 Jurgen Otto and David Hill described Maratus nambung in Peckhamia 309.1. The species which is thought to be a close relative of Maratus bubo and another as yet undescribed species was discovered several years ago north of Perth close to Nambung National Park by Bruno Buzatto.
Maratus playa, a new species described from the Australian interior
On 10 October 2023 Jurgen Otto and David Hill published the description of Maratus playa in Peckhamia 308.1. Unlike most other species Maratus playa is distributed in the arid centre of Australia. Most records are from Victoria and New South Wales, but one Western Australian record indicates that this species may be widely distributed. The name “playa” a a reference to the habitat.
Courtship behaviour, females and juveniles of Maratus constellatus
On 19 August 2023 David Hill and Jurgen Otto published the first account of the courtships behaviour of Maratus constellatus in Peckhamia 306.1 In the same publication they also describe the female of this species and juveniles
Peacock Spider stamps
On 9 May 2023 Australia Post released a set of 3 stamps featuring the species Maratus purcellae, Maratus elephans and Maratus speciosus in photographs taken by Jurgen Otto. The stamps can be viewed at the Australia Post website and there is an information sheet for details.
A new species from the coast of Western Australia and a new synonymy
On 5 August 2022 Jurgen Otto and David Hill described a new species of peacock spider, Maratus ammophilus, in Peckhamia 273.1 The name is derived form latin, meaning sand loving and is a reference to the spider’s habitat. Maratus ammophilus is assigned to the fimbriatus species group, together with Maratus speculifer and Maratus fimbriatus, and previously also Maratus licunxini. However, as per Otto and Hill’s publication the latter is now regarded as a junior synonym of Maratus fimbriatus. A new form of this species is also described from Queensland. Also illustrated in this paper are two species of the fimbriatus group that remain unnamed but have been used in a DNA study by Girard et al (2021) and are there referred to as Maratus sp. “carmel” and Maratus sp. “flame”.
Maratus expolitus, a new species of peacock spider from eastern Australia
On 12 May 2022 Milan Prasad described a new species of peacock spider in Peckhamia 267.1 . The species is named expolitus (=polished) in reference to the shiny abdomen of the male. The new species is mostly black. It is widespread on the east coast of Victoria and New South Wales
Maratus candens, a new species from southwestern Australia
On 9 April 2022 Jurgen Otto and David Hill described and named Maratus candens from the southwest of Western Australia in Peckhamia 263.1. The species name is latin for “glowing” and is a reference to the iridescent patches on either side of the male’s abdomen. This species with was discovered in November 2021 by Michelle Peak has some unique behavioural features. During the final closeup phase of the display the male pushes himself up, standing on extended legs. He then repeatedly elevates and lowers the abdomen, right down to the substrate. The female watching from only a few millimetre distance follows this display and looks up and down. This can last for several minutes. Also unique is the movement of the male’s chelicerae which is tightly synchronised with movement of the abdomen. When the abdomen stops moving so do the chelicerae. The new species brings the total number of named peacock spider species to 94.
Maratus pinniger, a new species of peacock spider from southwest Western Australia
On 26 March 2022 Jurgen Otto and David Hill named and described a new peacock spider which a few months earlier, in October 2021, was discovered by Paul Winthrop in the southwest of Western Australia. The name that was chosen, Maratus pinniger, is a reference to feather-like setae the male has at the tip of the abdomen (pinniger, latin = feather-bearing) . Maratus pinniger has been assigned to the vespa group of species in which females watches the performance of the male from just a few millimetre distance and the males often alternate the sides on which they display their fan to the female. Based on current observations it is predicted that more species in this group will be found. The publication in which Maratus pinniger was described can be downloaded from Peckhamia
First photographs of the Maratus constellatus display
In March 2020 Maratus constellatus was described from “Nature’s window” in Kalbarri National Park in Zootaxa 4758, but the female and the male display were not observed and remained unknown. Later that year Mathew Hourston made another unsuccessful attempt to photograph the display, documented in a video that is worth watching as it shows the habitat of this spider. Now the male display is known. On 7 July 2021 Jurgen Otto published the first photograph of it on his facebook page “peacock spider” and many more photographs have since been added on flickr. Jurgen also located females during his expedition. The individuals Jurgen photographed and filmed were found in the same area as the previous known individuals.
Maratus nemo, a new species of peacock spider from South Australia
On 25 March 2021 Joseph Schubert named and described Maratus nemo in Evolutionary Systematics The species was discovered by Sheryl Holliday in a wetland in South Australia. The name was chosen in reference to the orange face of this spider resembling the fictional character of the clownfish “Nemo” from the movie “Finding Nemo”. The state of South Australia is inhabited by relatively few peacock spiders and this new species makes this an even more impressive find. Museum Victoria published an article about this new species that includes some film footage
Updated catalogue of Australian peacock spiders including taxonomic changes
On 25 February 2021 Jurgen Otto and David Hill published an updated version of their “Catalogue of the Australian peacock spiders” in Peckhamia 148.4, now including 91 species in the genus Maratus. Based on a phylogenetic analysis by Girard et al (2021) all species previously assigned to the genera Saratus and Hypoblemum were transferred into the genus Maratus.
First phylogeny of peacock using molecular data
On 3 February 2021 the first ever phylogeny of peacock spiders using molecular data has been published by Girard et al in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. While this study only includes about half of all known peacock spider species it is a substantial contribution to the understanding of their relationships. In part the results are consistent with existing groupings that have been proposed based on morphology. However, there are significant surprises which will stimulate discussion and most likely prompt further work.
Two new species of peacock spider from Western Australia
Two new species, Maratus fletcheri and Maratus harveyi were named on 17 December by Julianne Waldock, Michael Duncan, Michael Doe, Adam Fletcher, Chris O’Toole and Paul Irvine in Records of the Western Australian Museum. Both species are members of the Maratus vespa group. This brings the total of named peacock spiders to 89.
New species of peacock spider described from Cape Naturaliste in Western Australia
On 13 October 2020 David Hill and Jurgen Otto described and named the peacock spider that was reported on in the previous news article in Peckhamia 123.1. The new species is named Maratus tidallik, the species name being a reference to Tiddalik the frog from an Australian Aboriginal dreamtime story. The name was chosen as the colour pattern on the abdomen of the males resembles a crouching frog, as illustrated in Peckhamia 123.1. This brings the number of names species of Maratus to 86 and the number of named peacock spider species which also includes the genus Saratus to 87. The new species is a close relative of other peacock spider species that live nearby, most notably Maratus boranup. Both species have small flaps at the side of the opisthosoma which are not expanded during the courtship display, and both species have white spots on the legs which otherwise are black.
First photograph of an unknown peacock spider
On 19 June 2020 Sunayana Rammohan from Bunbury in Western Australia reported an undescribed peacock spider she found at Cape Naturaliste in the southwest of Western Australia. The spider stands out by its brightly coloured abdomen, orange stripes on a blue iridescent background. This is the second undescribed species Sunayana found. The previous one was named after her Maratus suae. It is unknown at this point what the new one will be called.
Seven new species of peacock spider from Western Australia
On 2 March 2020 Joseph Schubert described seven new species of peacock spider from Western Australia. Their names are Maratus azureus, M. constellatus, M. inaquosus, M. laurenae, M. noggerup, M. suae and M. volpei. The paper was published in Zootaxa 4758 . The new species bring the total number of named peacock spiders to 86.
Giant inflatable peacock spider opens spider exhibition at the Queensland Museum
On 6 December 2019 the exhibition “Spiders” opened at the Australian Museum. It will feature amongst many other things videos and photographs of peacock spiders. The main advertising image for the exhibition is that of Maratus pardus which for this occasion has also been converted into a giant inflatable which now resides on the roof of the museum and greets visitors from far away.
Courtship display of Maratus aquilus described
On 5 December David Hill and Jurgen Otto published a detailed description and analysis of the courtship display of Maratus aquilus in Peckhamia 196.1 The male is capable of various modes of display, used for different purposes. The unilateral and bilateral semaphore displays as well as the elevated fan wave and active fan dance are the first stages of the display and are employed to get the attention of female and to promt her to come closer. Then the close fan dance follows whereby the female approaches and the male displays left or right sides of the fan to her, alternating between sides, and through a special window of the vertically raised legs he also displays to her a special iridescent ornament.
Maratus aquilus belongs to the vespa group and the other six species in this group share elements of the display. All seven species are distributed in a 200 km strip in the southwest of Western Australia, and all have been discovered in the last few years.
Jotus remus featuring in David Attenborough’s “Seven worlds one planet”
A jumping spider II discovered a couple of years ago in the southeast of Australia will be shown in an Attenborough narrated documentary airing in coming days. It was interesting to work with the BBC, I spent a week with them and provided the spiders for this documentary and made sure they were released back into the wild ! Jotus remus is not a peacock spider but closely related. My own footage of that species is available here and condensed and edited versions can be found on YouTube under the title "Spid-a-boo" and its sequel "Spider-a-boo 2"
The paper in which David Hill and I named this spider and described its behaviour can be downloaded here https://peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA_133.1.pdf What is in this paper is everything currently known about the spider.