Maratus occasus- the newest peacock spider!
The peacock spiders have a new member- Maratus occasus. Freshly described by Joseph Schubert, after first being discovered in 2017 by Phillip Price and Katie Lou. Peacock spider lovers should keep an eye out for this beauty in south west QLD. It is closely related to M. tasmanicus and M. australis, which both occur further south.
Have a read of this Facebook post for more on the story and some wonderful photos- https://www.facebook.com/peacockspider/posts/2115672125209564
Don't forget to check your own peacock spider records and photos on the offchance you may have spotted a M. occasus in the past. Wouldn't that be an exciting find!
Comments
How interesting!
I know this is off topic but I would love some help with ID of jumping spiders in general, but also this one which I had hoped might be a Maratus. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/33037748
Are there users in this project that would be good to tag into some of my spider observations?
Thanks,
Pete
Hi Pete- my suggestion would have been Joseph Schubert but I see he's already had a go at IDing your spider. Those little brown ones are tricky to pick!
Jurgen Otto has a small catalogue of female Maratus you might find helpful- https://www.peacockspider.org/females
Otherwise try posting your pic in the wider peacock spider enthusiast community- eg there are a few Maratus and generalist arachnid facebook pages that might have an eagle-eyed expert who knows your spider.
Awesome thanks very much Amy.
Still looking forward to my first obvious peacock - then I'll post it here!
Cheers,
Pete
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