TIGTIDAW 1000!!!! And then some.
#1000 - Maratus speciosus - Coastal Peacock Spider
Adorable spiders behind the cut
This is an adult Coastal Peacock Spider, a species supposedly found only among coastal dune vegetation in the Perth region. Maratus are well-known for their tinyosity and brilliant colours, and this one is both tiny and so eye-searingly brilliant a blue that the camera was having trouble coping.
I was very happy to see this one on a shrub next to beach steps at Halls Head - I haven’t seen a Peacock Spider since university, where we found one on a field trip to Smiths Lake and voted him ‘cutest live specimen of the year’.
The other thing Peacock Spiders are famous for is dancing to impress their lady-loves. Here’s a sub-adult female that we found on the windiest part of the beach at Point Peron the other day. She was climbing my wife’s back :)
#1001 - Maratus spicatus - Spiky Peacock Spider
Another Peacock Spider! Not a beach dweller, but apparently quite common around Perth according to Rob Whyte who IDed it for me, and Otto Jurgen, the world expert on Peacock Spiders. They’re just so tiny that you hardly ever notice them - one of the smallest Maratus yet discovered. There doesn’t seem to be any visible in this photo, but there’s supposed to be brilliant blue lines between the tan-coloured ones on his butt.
Smoll spider is smoll.
South Yunderup, Perth
#1002 - Maratus?
Found this on the beach at Shoalwater Bay, during the WA Naturalists Club beach sweep. I had to crawl along, butt in the air, as I tried to get a photo, to their amusement.
I sent the photos to Rob Whyte, who agreed that it seems to be Peacock Spider, but that it doesn’t match the M. speciosus that lives in the dunes alongside the beach. In fact, he suspects it’s an undescribed species, not least because open beach, with constant wind, no cover, and salt spray is a really unlikely place to find a jumping spider.
Of course, it’s always possible it’s a younger male. And female jumping spiders can be really difficult to ID.
#1003 - Sandalodes supurbus - Ludicra Jumping Spider
IDed by Rob Whyte. The common names comes from the former scientific binomial of Bavia ludicra. This is a female that I found next to the beach in a wattle, enjoying a large blowfly or tachinid for lunch. Sandalodes are large jumping spiders easily capable of leaping 30cm or more, and delivering a painful bite with no lasting effects.
Dawesville, Perth
Adorable spiders behind the cut
This is an adult Coastal Peacock Spider, a species supposedly found only among coastal dune vegetation in the Perth region. Maratus are well-known for their tinyosity and brilliant colours, and this one is both tiny and so eye-searingly brilliant a blue that the camera was having trouble coping.
I was very happy to see this one on a shrub next to beach steps at Halls Head - I haven’t seen a Peacock Spider since university, where we found one on a field trip to Smiths Lake and voted him ‘cutest live specimen of the year’.
The other thing Peacock Spiders are famous for is dancing to impress their lady-loves. Here’s a sub-adult female that we found on the windiest part of the beach at Point Peron the other day. She was climbing my wife’s back :)
#1001 - Maratus spicatus - Spiky Peacock Spider
Another Peacock Spider! Not a beach dweller, but apparently quite common around Perth according to Rob Whyte who IDed it for me, and Otto Jurgen, the world expert on Peacock Spiders. They’re just so tiny that you hardly ever notice them - one of the smallest Maratus yet discovered. There doesn’t seem to be any visible in this photo, but there’s supposed to be brilliant blue lines between the tan-coloured ones on his butt.
Smoll spider is smoll.
South Yunderup, Perth
#1002 - Maratus?
Found this on the beach at Shoalwater Bay, during the WA Naturalists Club beach sweep. I had to crawl along, butt in the air, as I tried to get a photo, to their amusement.
I sent the photos to Rob Whyte, who agreed that it seems to be Peacock Spider, but that it doesn’t match the M. speciosus that lives in the dunes alongside the beach. In fact, he suspects it’s an undescribed species, not least because open beach, with constant wind, no cover, and salt spray is a really unlikely place to find a jumping spider.
Of course, it’s always possible it’s a younger male. And female jumping spiders can be really difficult to ID.
#1003 - Sandalodes supurbus - Ludicra Jumping Spider
IDed by Rob Whyte. The common names comes from the former scientific binomial of Bavia ludicra. This is a female that I found next to the beach in a wattle, enjoying a large blowfly or tachinid for lunch. Sandalodes are large jumping spiders easily capable of leaping 30cm or more, and delivering a painful bite with no lasting effects.
Dawesville, Perth