FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

These Peacock Spiders Have Better Mating-Season Moves Than You

They’re all like “Hey what’s up hello.”
Rachel Pick
New York, US

Peacock spiders jump, actively hunt their prey instead of building webs, and can see as well as cats—but they could still win over even mild arachnophobes with their crazy colors and elaborate mating displays.

Much like birds of paradise, each species of peacock spider has its own distinct mating dance that they use to try to impress lady spiders. It waves its legs and skitters back and forth, sending vibrations through the ground that the female picks up on. These three species, discovered earlier this year in Australia, were nicknamed Skeletorus, the elephant spider, and Sparklemuffin (really).

Each spider has a flap on its abdomen that it lifts up and displays during its seduction routine—the elephant spider was so named because the pattern on its flap resembles a pachyderm. But for those currently dealing with a case of the creepy crawlies, don't worry—peacock spiders are much, much smaller, at only about five millimeters long.

The peacock spider genus belongs to the Salticidae family of jumping spiders, and already has upwards of fifty species (all native to Australia), but photographer Jürgen Otto believes there are plenty more out there. Otto himself has discovered twenty of the species so far, just in the last four years.

I generally prefer to observe spiders from far away, but these little guys are so cool I'd consider coming closer. At least until they start jumping. Then I'm outta there.