Maratus volans is a species in the jumping spider family (Salticidae), belonging to the genus Maratus (peacock spiders). These spiders are native to certain areas in Australia and occupy a wide distribution of habitats. They have a specialized visual system that allows them to see the full visible spectrum as well as in the ultraviolet-range; this helps them detect and pursue prey. Males of this species are characterized by their colourful abdomen flaps that are used to attract females during courtship.
The English arachnologist Octavius Pickard-Cambridge described the species. It was transferred to the genus Maratus by Marek Żabka in 1991, noting that "it is difficult to describe adequately the great beauty of the colouring of this spider".
The specific name volans means "flying" in Latin; O.P-Cambridge noted that the person who sent him the specimens from New South Wales had told him that he had seen the spiders "actually using as wings or supporters to sustain the length of their leaps." This belief has been debunked by the Australasian Arachnological Society.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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starts withBoth sexes reach about 5 mm in body length. Females and immatures of both sexes are brown but have colour patterns by which they can be distinguished from related species.
M. volans is confined to specific parts of Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania). They have a very wide distribution and occupy many different types of environments, unlike other species of Maratus that occupy only a niche habitat, like the M. Sarahae.
The majority of Peacock spiders are ground dwelling and found on leaf litter or dry twigs. The females are thought to mimic leaf scars on the dry twigs; however, they can be found in a wide variety of habitats such as sand dunes to grasslands.
Peacock spiders are diurnal cursorial hunters feeding primarily on insects and other spiders. The evolution of an acute visual system in salticids almost certainly originated as an adaptation for stalking prey. However, this development also facilitated a wandering lifestyle different from that of their sit-and-wait ancestors, enabling jumping spiders to roam and encounter many environments. Keen eyesight has probably been useful for peacock spiders in navigating, inhabiting and exploiting new types of habitats, and undoubtedly set the stage for the evolution of complex visual signals. Like other jumping spiders, they do not rely on webs to catch prey. They use their keen eyesight to stalk their prey and eventually chase and leap on their target to deliver a fatal bite. They have been observed to jump up to 40 times higher than their body length.
The red, blue and black males have flap-like extensions of the abdomen with white hairs that can be folded down. They are used for display during mating: the male raises his abdomen, then expands and raises the flaps so that the abdomen forms a white-fringed, circular field of colour. The species, and indeed the whole genus Maratus, have been compared to peacocks in this respect. The third pair of legs is also raised for display, showing a brush of black hairs and white tips. These legs are also used in a clapping motion to further attract a female's attention. While approaching the female, the male vibrates his abdomen while waving raised legs and tail, and dances from side to side. However, females are more attracted to the visual efforts of the dance done by the males rather than the vibrational signals.
Immature female peacock spiders resemble the adults, except their pedipalps are colourless. The immature male peacock spiders lack an opisthosomal fan, a prominent white marginal band of the carapace, as well as specialization of the third legs. The males do not generate their colours until sexual maturity. Their lifespan is reported to be about one year.
