Peacock spiders are so tiny, some of their magnificent details can only be seen with a macro lens. Luckily, spider enthusiast Jürgen Otto carried his on a trip to Western Australia and brought back this incredible footage of several new peacock spider species. The species were named and described in collaboration with David Hill in the jumping spider journal Peckhamia: Maratus albus, M. australis (not shown in this video), M. bubo, M. lobatus, M. tessellatus, M. vespa, and M. vultus. These new species bring the total number identified to 48, and there may be more yet to be discovered. Each species can be uniquely identified by their mating dance moves: The male waves part of its often colorful body as the female watches intently.
Read more about the latest additions to the dancing arachnid clan.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/seven-new-peacock-spiders-photos-video-science/
For more video and photos of peacock spiders, check out Jürgen “Peacockspiderman” Otto’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Peacockspiderman
https://www.facebook.com/PeacockSpider/
Watch our previous videos featuring other jumping spiders:
“The Amazing Peacock Spider”
“Watch: Male Spiders Wave Leg ‘Paddles’ to Attract Lady Spiders”
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/160115-australian-jumping-spider-courtship-vin
VIDEOGRAPHY: Jürgen Otto
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Jed Winer
SPIDER DISCOVERY/NAMING: Jürgen Otto, David Knowles, David Hill
MUSIC: Stock media provided by Tunesurfer/Pond5.com