Central Coast SpidersSpider Index Arachnura higginsi (Scorpion-tailed Spider) Arkys alatus (Winged Arkys) Arkys alticephala (High-headed Arkys) Arkys curtulus (Bird-dropping Spider) Arkys dilatatus (Dilated Arkys) Arkys transversus Arkys enigma Celaenia Deinopis subrufa (Net-casting Spider) Dolophones turrigera (Turreted Wrap-around Spider) Maratus volans (Peacock Spider) Ordgarius magnificus (Magnificent Spider) Servaea villosa (Shaggy-velvet Servaea) Tetragnatha nitens (Shining Long-jawed Spider) Triangular Spiders
Maratus volans are commonly known as the Flying Peacock Spider. They belong in the family Salticidae, a group known as “jumping spiders”. The genus Maratus are a group known as “peacock spiders”.
It is the males that have flap-like extensions of the abdomen that are folded down. It is during mating, that the male will raises his abdomen, then expands and raises the flaps. The colourful display of the flaps, together with the leg waving and the swaying from side to side, make these a very popular looking spider.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Suborder: Araneomorphae
- Infraorder: Entelegynae
- Superfamily: Salticoidea
- Family: Salticidae
- Subfamily: Salticinae
- Tribe: Euophryini
- Genus: Maratus
- Species: Maratus volans
Footnote & References
- Photographs (Project Maratus) © Michael Doe
- Michael Doe on Flickr – spiderphotography21 and michael doe (Project Maratus)
- Catalogue of the Australian peacock spiders (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini: Maratus, Saratus), version 2, Jürgen C. Otto and David E. Hill, PECKHAMIA 148.2, 15 September 2017, 1―24 ISSN 2161―8526 (print) ISSN 1944―8120 (online) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:57925A87-9063-425E-AB9A-1DEC3696AA38 (registered 7 SEP 2017), https://peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA_148.2.pdf
- Flying Peacock Spider (Maratus volans), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/53605-Maratus-volans
- Maratus volans, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maratus_volans
- Peacock Spider, Jurgen Otto, https://www.peacockspider.org
- A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia, Authors Robert Whyte, Gregory John Anderson, Publisher: CSIRO Publishing ISBN: 9780643107076, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329139666_A_Field_Guide_to_Spiders_of_Australia
- Maratus volans (O. Pickard-Cambridge 1874) Flying Peacock Spider, Arachne.org.au, https://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?viewMode=printable&ID=2451 (this site is no longer active. Some content can be viewed on Wayback Machine)
- On the Origins of Art – Actual Size I Maratus Volans, 2016, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/works/2018.14/
Central Coast SpidersSpider Index Arachnura higginsi (Scorpion-tailed Spider) Arkys alatus (Winged Arkys) Arkys alticephala (High-headed Arkys) Arkys curtulus (Bird-dropping Spider) Arkys dilatatus (Dilated Arkys) Arkys transversus Arkys enigma Celaenia Deinopis subrufa (Net-casting Spider) Dolophones turrigera (Turreted Wrap-around Spider) Maratus volans (Peacock Spider) Ordgarius magnificus (Magnificent Spider) Servaea villosa (Shaggy-velvet Servaea) Tetragnatha nitens (Shining Long-jawed Spider) Triangular Spiders
New South WalesBarunguba Montague Island Bourke Blue Mountains Bundeena Central Coast Kosciuszko National Park Mount Kaputar National Park Lower North Shore Northern Beaches Sapphire Coast Snowy Mountains Region South Coast Stony Range Regional Botanic Garden Sydney