Seven more dancing peacock spiders discovered in Australia
A tiny, brightly coloured spider renowned for its funky courtship dances has seven more species than previously believed, a Melbourne researcher who was once terrified of the arachnids has discovered. Joseph Schubert has described the new species of peacock spider in a research paper published last week in leading international animal taxonomy journal Zootaxa. Peacock spiders – also known as the genus Maratus – are unique to Australia and have garnered a strong following online, with videos of their courtship dances racking up millions of views.
