Maratus splendens

Splendid peacock spider at Huskisson, NSW

Maratus splendens at Huskisson, NSW - 28 Oct 2018 09:10 AM
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Identification history

Maratus splendens 18 Nov 2024 YumiCallaway
Maratus volans 14 Dec 2018 CharlesDove
Maratus volans 28 Oct 2018 CharlesDove
Unidentified 28 Oct 2018 Husky

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User's notes

Approx 2 to 3 mm in length On ground vegetation

5 comments

CharlesDove wrote:
   29 Oct 2018
Yes Mike this is just a start on this one and hoping for a few comments an interesting species of spider
Husky wrote:
   29 Oct 2018
What sort of detail should we look for? We might be able to find it again.
Husky wrote:
   29 Oct 2018
Looking at the link you posted it looks a lot like Maratus splendens - photo from a different angle and this one doesn't have his flap up
Harrisi wrote:
   19 Jan 2019
Hi folks. This one is definitely Maratus splendens, very common in wetter vegetation in your area. Maratus volans favours drier leaf litter under Corymbia maculata especially though either of these species can turn up almost anywhere. The tally for Maratus species now approaches 70 ! There is also another genus called Saratus which only contains one species (S. hesperus) which I discovered back in 2013. I'm happy to give any advice when you get peacock spider posts herein future though their season (for adults) is pretty much at an end now.
YumiCallaway wrote:
   18 Nov 2024
Hi everyone, great discussion, I agree with @Husky and @Harrisi here and have just changed the ID. Glad I stumbled across this, I see it's been 6 years! I will leave a few notes here :)

I would recommend https://www.peacockspider.org/ which has been built up by Jurgen Otto for some splendid photos of various peacock spiders. It may help with your future quests to find a visual ID! As Stuart has said, the number of Maratus species only continue to grow (over 110 now), so start off with the ones that look like yours.

Beginning with the abdomen, you might notice that there are quite a few males who have a very similar abdomen pattern as this one! I like to think of it as a circle with dots in the middle; though it isn't quite so. Look closely at the carapace — how are they different? Colour, pattern? Are there any shapes you can recognise?

It is well worth a look putting some of these photos next to each other to spot some differences :)

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