Peacock Jumping Spider - male

Description:

This very attractive jumping spider was only about 6 mm long. It looked like two blobs of yellowish-orange but a closer look revealed a spider with a black cepahalothorax with an ochre colored anterior part and three thin white lines, one in the middle and two laterally placed. The abdomen had two bright orange "c"-shaped patterns facing each other with a central orange patch. All this on a background of very pale teal. The third pair of legs seemed to have dense white setae on the tarsi. The four eyes in the front were a deep green. The palps were white.

Habitat:

Spotted on black wattle in a reserve.

Notes:

This was an exciting find for me - an absolutely gorgeous, very active little spider. You would need appropriate photographic equipment to capture its beauty- something I did not have.
The pattern seen on the abdomen is on a flap over the abdomen. If the female shows interest in the males initial attempts to attract her ( leg waving), he would then lift his abdomen unfolding the flaps to display the pattern, like a peacock !
Family: Salticidea