Peacock Spider

Maratus volans

Peacock Spider (Maratus volans): The Tiny Spider That Dances for Its Life

The peacock spider is a jumping spider only about 5 mm long from eastern Australia. Males unfold a rainbow-coloured, white-fringed fan on their abdomen and wave their long third legs in a courtship dance that can last almost an hour, while drumming vibrations into the ground. It is a risky show: a female that is not interested may attack and eat the dancer.

Habitat
Low shrubs and leaf litter in forest, woodland and coastal bush
Size
Body up to about 5 mm
Diet
Small insects and other tiny arthropods, caught without a web
Range
Eastern Australia, from Queensland through New South Wales to Victoria
Courtship
Fan dance with leg waving and vibrations, 6-51 minutes in lab trials
Lifespan
Peacock spiders typically live up to about a year

Habitat & range

Maratus volans lives only in Australia. It is a spider of eastern Australia, found on low shrubs and in leaf litter, where females also hide their egg sacs (Australian Museum / Atlas of Living Australia). It is common in coastal bush around Sydney, such as Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, and has also been photographed near Brisbane and in Queensland, and at Warburton east of Melbourne (Arachne.org.au; Girard et al. 2011). Because the spiders are so small, they often go unnoticed even though the males are brightly coloured (Australian Museum / ALA).

How to recognise it

Both sexes have a body only up to about 5 mm long (Australian Museum / ALA). The male has orange-red and blue-grey stripes above the eyes and an abdomen with an iridescent red, blue and green pattern that continues onto two side flaps edged with white hairs. His third pair of legs is longer than the others, with a dark tuft of hairs and a white tip. Females are drab by comparison: a coppery carapace, mottled brown legs and no fan (Australian Museum / ALA). Like other jumping spiders it has large forward-facing eyes and hunts by sight in daylight, stalking and then leaping onto prey instead of building a web (Australian Museum).

The fan dance

When a male finds a female, he raises his abdomen, unfolds the side flaps into a round, white-fringed fan and waves it at her in time with his raised third legs, stepping from side to side (Girard et al. 2011). He also drums vibrations into the ground by bobbing his abdomen. Researchers who recorded them with a laser vibrometer named the signals rumble-rumps, crunch-rolls and grind-revs. In lab trials a full courtship lasted 6 to 51 minutes, about 24 minutes on average (Girard et al. 2011). Females are choosy. Males that put more effort into both the visual display and the vibrations were more likely to mate (Girard et al. 2015). It is also dangerous: unreceptive females may attack and eat a courting male (Australian Museum / ALA). In one study, about a third of the females that did not mate attacked their suitor (Girard et al. 2015).

A name based on a mistake

The species was described in 1874 as Salticus volans, from the Latin for "flying", because the collector believed the spiders used their flaps as wings to stretch their leaps. That has never been confirmed, and arachnologists now consider the flaps to be used only in courtship (Waldock, Australasian Arachnological Society). It was moved to the genus Maratus in 1991. Maratus volans was named more than a century before most of its relatives. In 2011 only seven peacock spider species were known; today more than 110 have been described, all from Australia (Australian Geographic).

Fun facts about Peacock Spider

  • The name volans means "flying", but peacock spiders cannot fly or glide; the flaps are only for courtship (Waldock, AAS).
  • A male's courtship dance lasted up to 51 minutes in lab recordings (Girard et al. 2011).
  • Males drum vibration signals that researchers named rumble-rumps, crunch-rolls and grind-revs (Girard et al. 2011).
  • In 2011 only seven peacock spider species were known; now there are more than 110 (Australian Geographic).
  • The whole spider is only about 5 mm long, so the dazzling males often go unnoticed (Australian Museum / ALA).

Peacock Spider vs Southern Black Widow (dancer vs web-builder)

The black widow takes it: if the peacock spider jumps into her web, its dance moves won't help.

A just-for-fun pairing of two spiders that never meet: the peacock spider lives in eastern Australia, while the southern black widow is a North American spider. The peacock spider is a 5 mm daytime hunter that stalks and pounces with its sharp eyesight. The black widow is bigger, sits in a tangled web and has a strong neurotoxic venom.

Read more about Southern Black Widow.

Common questions about Peacock Spider

How big is a peacock spider?

Tiny. Maratus volans has a body only up to about 5 mm long, so even the brightly coloured males often go unnoticed (Australian Museum / ALA). Across the genus, peacock spiders are about 2 to 6 mm long and can weigh as little as 2 mg (Australian Geographic).

Why do male peacock spiders dance?

To win a mate. The male unfolds a colourful fan on his abdomen, waves his long third legs and drums vibrations into the ground; in lab trials courtship lasted 6 to 51 minutes (Girard et al. 2011). Males that put more effort into both the dance and the vibrations were more likely to mate (Girard et al. 2015).

Do female peacock spiders eat the males?

Sometimes. An unreceptive female may attack and eat a courting male (Australian Museum / ALA). In one study, about a third of the females that did not mate attacked the male courting them, while only 1 of 16 females that mated attacked first (Girard et al. 2015).

Can peacock spiders fly?

No. The name volans means "flying" because the 1874 collector thought the flaps worked as wings during leaps, but that has never been confirmed. The flaps are used in courtship displays (Waldock, Australasian Arachnological Society).

Where do peacock spiders live?

Only in Australia, where more than 110 peacock spider species have now been described (Australian Geographic). Maratus volans lives in eastern Australia on low shrubs and in leaf litter (Australian Museum / ALA), from Queensland and around Sydney to near Melbourne (Arachne.org.au).

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