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Maratus volans
This cute little jumping spider was about5 mm long. The black cephalothorax had white and orange stripes in the anterior part and just white stripes in the posterior section. The abdomen had beautiful orange blue and green colours with iridescence. legs were covered with setae and the palps were fluffy with white setae.
Spotted near a creek in dappled shade (Cardinia Reservoir Park)
These spiders would expand their colourful abdominal flaps and raise them like a peacoc's tail during a mating dance to attract a (rather drab) female. No close-ups were possible as this spider was very wary and kept moving away.
This was an exciting find and totally unexpected !
Family: Salticidae
Spotted on Nov 8, 2016
Submitted on Nov 9, 2016
13 Comments
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. It's a pity I couldn't get clearer shots.
Congrats! Awesome spider.
Way to go, Leuba. Itis a trully amazing find. Congratulations.
Awesome find Leuba,first time in PN,wow :-) congrats on the well deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
Congratulations Leuba!!! Very well deserved :)
Congratulations Leuba! This very special spider is our Spotting of the Day!
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Thanks Leuba! I hope yours will get there on the ALA website.
Photos and Distribution map are on Atlas of Living Australia (ALA). Hope this link works
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:b...
You're welcome Leuba. Equipment or not this is a great spotting! I guess Wikipedia is not up to date with the distribution for Maratus volans? Victoria is not mentioned. Not mentioned in this reference either:
http://www.peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKH...
Could you point us to any other records for Victoria? (I'd like to know but I'm short of time for a search right now). Thanks in advance!
So honoured Daniele. Thank you so much. I am lucky to have seen two species of these little spiders. I wish I had better equipment though.
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated Leuba!
Fantastic Leuba! First appearance for Maratus volans on PN!
wow