Is the peacock spider poisonous or not? Description and photo of the peacock spider. Video: peacock spider - interesting facts

Some people are afraid of spiders, some don’t like them, but absolutely no one remains indifferent to them.

One of the most unusual representatives of arachnids is the peacock spider. Latin name which Maratus Volans.

Peacock spider

His bright color and unusual movements resemble the peacock bird. Its main amazing feature is that it marriage ritual.

The peacock spider measures about five millimeters.

Female peacock spider

Despite such a tiny size, the male can be distinguished from the female due to its variegated iridescent color, which is dominated by red, blue and green.

Appearance

The cephalothorax or, more simply, the body and limbs of the spider are black or dark brown in color with bright red stripes.

The upper abdomen is greenish, with stripes of blue and orange flowers. On the sides of the abdomen there are rounded scutes that are pressed tightly to the body and resemble folds of skin.

The photo of the peacock spider shows that the hind pairs of legs are much larger than the front ones. Thanks to them, the peacock spider can jump high.

Appearance of the Maratus Volans spider

The entire body, head and legs of the spider are covered with light down, sticking out in different directions.

At an early young age, males and females are practically indistinguishable from each other by gender, since they have the same coloration of an unremarkable brown-gray color.

As maturity approaches, the abdomen of the male spider becomes variegated. It is this that he spreads, like a peacock’s fan, attracting females.

This spider, despite its small size, has excellent vision.

Peacock Spider Dimensions

It detects prey at a distance of up to twenty centimeters. Thanks to good eyesight males can quickly spot the female.

Therefore, as soon as the spider sees her, he immediately begins to lift his motley abdomen up, straighten his scutes on the sides and proudly demonstrate his bright coloring.

But it is not just an element of decoration, but also a way to survive. The spider stalks its prey like a predator. He rushes at her and destroys her.

Peacock spider jumping on its prey

Moreover, the victim can be several times larger than the size of a peacock spider. Incredibly brave, he attacks all insects crawling nearby. Dangerous for the enemy are the spider's jaws, with which it pierces chitin and injects poison.

When hunting prey, the peacock spider can jump at lightning speed and high thanks to strong legs. It can quickly catch up with prey, and if necessary or in danger, it can run away and hide. If a flying target appears in the insect’s field of vision, it will be able to catch it too.

Life cycle and reproduction

The peacock spider is endemic to the Australian states of Queensland and New Wales, that is, it lives only in their territory.

It was explored by European arachnologists (scientists who study arachnids) more than a hundred years ago. The courtship and dancing of this insect reminded them of the behavior of the European Saitis barbipes.

Saitis barbipes spider

But with subsequent, more in-depth studies, it was found that Maratus volans is radically different from it.

In the early 90s scientist zoologist Marek Zhabka from Poland found evidence that, unlike the European spider, the Australian one cannot fly. He has no wings at all, and a semblance of flight is achieved thanks to his muscular legs.

After mating has occurred, the female spider lays up to six to seven eggs. She carefully and carefully guards her clutches throughout the entire two-week period of their maturation.

Peacock spider mating process

All this time she eats nothing at all, thereby exposing herself to mortal risk. After 14 days, small spiders appear.

The life of the insect lasts only one year. His body is constantly in periodic display of its belly or rhythmic pulsation in order to scare away enemies or in mating season.

Another feature of the peacock spider is that it does not weave its web, but hunts for prey like a wild predator.

Mating dance

When a male spider meets a female, he raises his abdomen, which takes on an oval shape. After this, he raises up the third pair of his legs, covered with black bristles.

Peacock Spider Dance

When the female comes very close to him, he begins to perform the mating ritual - an exotic and passionate dance.

He begins to shake his abdomen, move his legs and move dynamically from one side to the other. He quickly glides on the other six legs, while his round belly continues to tremble. His entire tiny body is in constant motion and obeys a rhythm known only to him.

This is a very bright and beautiful sight that has a bewitching effect on females. The main goal of such an unusual ritual is to demonstrate all its beauty and splendor.

Peacock spider close up

If the female likes the dance, she will allow him to mate with her. But if the ritual does not affect the female, then she can eat the male.

A person can only see the spectacle of the mating dance of a peacock spider using a macro lens on a camera with multiple magnification. This phenomenon is shining example amazing natural beauty that cannot be seen or observed with the naked eye.

Danger of a Maratus volans bite for humans

Does this insect pose a danger to humans, is the peacock spider poisonous or not? The peacock spider is poisonous, like many other arachnids.

But it is not dangerous for people and animals. His jaws are so small size that they cannot even simply pierce human skin.

Conclusion

People are accustomed to the fact that spiders are extremely unpleasant and disgusting insects, and even dangerous and poisonous.

But not all of them have scary looking and pose a danger.

There are even spiders that surprise and amaze with their beauty and unusual behavior.

A clear proof of this is the dancing peacock spider.

Video: PEACOCK SPIDER - INTERESTING FACTS

I never thought that spiders could be so beautiful, but we have clear proof of this before our eyes. This is the peacock spider, which, in my opinion, deserves to bear the title of the most beautiful and glamorous spider. Its iridescent color contains almost all the colors of the rainbow.

The peacock spider is a type of jumping spider.

You can meet such handsome men in New South Wales and Queensland (Australia).

The spider itself, although beautiful, is very small, its size is 4-5 mm. Well, how can you spot such a baby? This is difficult to do, but possible, thanks to the bright colors. The upper part of its abdomen is colored red, green and blue, and the legs and cephalothorax are black or dark brown. Males are lucky with this coloration, but females and immature individuals are unremarkable and have the usual brown-gray color.

The peacock spider has excellent vision, which allows it to see prey at a distance of 20 cm.

The spider got its “bird” name thanks to two shields along the edges of the abdomen, on which bright patterns flaunt. He spreads his scutes, like a peacock spreading his tail when he wants to attract the attention of a female.

What is he not ready to do for this? He can even dance. Before the mating dance begins, he takes the most advantageous angle for himself - he raises his stomach vertically and straightens his beautiful scutes. For greater effect, he lifts the third pair of legs and begins to vibrate them and his stomach. After such an acrobatic performance, success awaits him with the opposite sex.

Having mated with one female, the male immediately switches to others. And again he begins to dance his steps.

The peacock spider has been called by different names. At first it was called Attus volans, then Saitis volans and now it is called Maratus volans. The thing is that at first he was assigned to his European brothers, but they were radically different. So later they got a new one modern name.

Still, a very beautiful spider, I can’t stop looking at it :)

The family of jumping spiders is simply replete with unusually colorful and prominent representatives. The peacock spider we describe, or Maratus volans, is also no exception.

Despite the fact that spiders of this species are no different large sizes, the brightness of the color of the male spider, which literally shimmers with bright red, yellow, blue and green flowers, will not leave it unnoticed.

The spider's legs and cephalothorax, as a rule, are dark brown, in some cases even black, which is diluted with red stripes.

And on the greenish belly there are stripes of blue and red. But female spiders have a rather faded appearance compared to males.

The peacock spider has excellent eyesight. Thanks to this, he can notice prey from a distance of about 20 cm. These are very small spiders, the size of adult individuals is only 4-5 millimeters. They live mainly in New South Wales and Queensland. Males of this species have rounded growths in the form of scutes on their abdomen, which are close to the body of the spider when it is at rest.

Such a bright and elegant coloring of the spider does not serve aesthetic purposes; its role is to attract females. The spider, in search of a friend, stands upright and opens its rounded flaps, similar to a peacock's tail. Thus, the spider shows its superiority.

To make an even greater impression on the female, the spider raises a third pair of legs, which are decorated with black bristles, the ends of which are white, and begins a kind of dance, trying with all its might to please the female. The peacock spider is not distinguished by “strict morals” - immediately after mating with one female, it goes in search of another, in front of whom it will also dance.

The mating dance of the Peacock spider is reminiscent of the dance of the Saitis barbipes spider, found in Europe. It is noteworthy that the official name of this species has changed several times. At first the Peacock spider was called Attus volans, then Saitis volans, and only then Maratus volans.

The original name for this species of spider, like many other representatives of the order of spiders that have chosen to live in Australia, was given by arachnologists from Europe more than a hundred years ago.

On one street On one street there are 4 houses in a row, in which 4 people live: Bogdanov, Donnikov, Alekseev and Kharitonov. It is known that each of them has exactly one of the following professions: doctor, teacher, mechanic and hairdresser, but it is unknown who lives in which house. However, there is reliable information that: 1) the doctor lives across the house from the mechanic; 2) the teacher lives to the left of the doctor; 3) the hairdresser lives to the right of the doctor; 4) the teacher does not live next to the mechanic; 5) Kharitonov is not a doctor; 6) Bogdanov lives next to the hairdresser; 7) Donnikov lives to the right of the doctor; 8) Alekseev lives next to the teacher. Find out who has what profession and who lives where. Write your answer in order of the houses from left to right.

Solution: From facts 2 and 3, we can write down the following relative location of houses according to the professions of their owners: teacher, doctor, hairdresser. Since the doctor lives across the house from the mechanic (see fact 1) and the teacher does not live next to the mechanic (fact 4), the living pattern of all four people is as follows: teacher doctor hairdresser mechanic

Solution: Now let’s determine each person’s profession. Since Alekseev lives next to the teacher (fact 8), he is a doctor. Then Bogdanov, who, like the doctor Alekseev, also lives next to the hairdresser (fact 6), is a mechanic. Let's write this in a table (it is convenient to arrange the professions of house owners in the order found): Teacher Doctor Hairdresser Locksmith Alekseev Bogdanov Since Donnikov lives to the right of the doctor (fact 7), his profession is hairdresser. It remains that Kharitonov is a teacher. The entire required scheme looks like this: Teacher Doctor Hairdresser Locksmith Kharitonov Alekseev Donnikov Bogdanov

Get 49 from 5 You need to write a program for getting 49 from number 5 for the Doubler performer, whose command system includes two commands: 1. Add Multiply by 2. By executing the first of them, the Doubler adds 1 to the number on the screen, and by executing the second, it multiplies it by 2. Answer: The shortest solution (numbers of commands in the program):

Five friends Four friends were sitting on a bench near the house: Anton, Boris, Victor, Georgy and Dmitry. It is known that: 1) Victor sits to the right of Anton; 2) Dmitry sits to the left of Boris; 3) Boris is sitting next to Victor; 4) Georgy sits next to Victor; 5) Anton and Boris are not sitting next to each other; 6) Dmitry is sitting on the edge of the bench. Find out in what order the guys were sitting.

Solution: From facts 2 and 5 it follows that Dmitry is on the far left. Analysis of facts 3 and 4 shows that there are two possible placement options for Victor, Boris and Georgy (from left to right): 1) Boris, Victor, Georgy; 2) Georgy, Victor, Boris. At the same time, Anton sits to the left of the three guys listed (see fact 1). But since Anton and Boris are not sitting next to each other (fact 5), the first option is not suitable. The answer is the following placement of friends: Dmitry, Anton, Georgy, Victor, Boris.

Three students Classroom teacher complained to the school principal that he had a group of three students in his class, one of whom always tells the truth, the second always lies, and the third who alternately tells a lie and then the truth. The director knows that their names are Sergei, Maxim and Kirill, but he does not know which of them is truthful and which is not. One day all three were late for class. The director called everyone into his office and talked with the boys. Kirill said: “Maxim never lies. But from Sergei, on the contrary, you will never hear the truth.” Maxim said: “Kirill told the truth about me.” The director realized which of them was which. Can you do this?

Solution: Explore possible options in relation to Kirill. 1. Let's assume that Cyril's first statement is true and the second is false. But then from the falsity of the second statement it follows that Sergei is a truthful person, like Maxim (Kirill’s first statement), which cannot be (there is only one truthful person among the guys). 2. Let Cyril’s first statement be false and the second true. In this case, it turns out that both Sergei and Maxim are liars, which also cannot be true. 3. Let's assume that Kirill always tells the truth. But at the same time, he cannot say the same about Maxim. This means that this option is also impossible. 4. It remains that Kirill always lies, and both of his statements are false. Then it turns out that Maxim is a liar or he is “different”. But Maxim can no longer be a liar, which means the second case is suitable. It remains that Sergei is a “truth teller,” which corresponds to Kirill’s second statement. That is, this option is possible. So, the answer: Kirill always lies, Sergei is a “truth teller”, and Maxim speaks every now and then a lie, then the truth.

Tasks Five questions 1. Which spider gave the dance its name? 2. Coco Chanel liked to repeat: “Fashion passes.” What remains? 3. Which tennis player won the Wimbledon tournament at the age of 17? 4. What kind of fry aquarium fish in case of danger they hide in the “daddy’s” mouth? 5. What were the contents of the most expensive bottle of wine sold at auction? 1. The name of the spider (tarantula) is related to Italian folk dance tarantella. 2. The famous French fashion designer Coco Chanel said “Fashion passes, but style remains.” 3. At the age of 17, Boris Becker (Germany) won the Wimbledon tennis tournament. 17-year-old Wimbledon junior winner Patrick Cash. Martina Hingis, at the age of less than 16, became the winner of the doubles tournament. 4. In case of danger, they rush to the female and hide in her oral cavity fry of the aquarium fish “American cichlid” (there are other names for similar fish). 5. The most expensive bottle of wine ever sold at auction is a bottle of Chateau Cheval-Blanc (see ru.wikipedia.org).

Few people know that spiders are not nasty and disgusting, but very beautiful - we are talking about the peacock spider. What is so special about this representative of spiders and where it lives, we will consider in this article.

Description and photo

The most beautiful creation of nature of the spider family is the peacock spider (maratus volans). Scientists know about 20 species of peacock spider.

Let's look at the structural features and color scheme of the spider:

• color Variegated: from bright yellow to black-purple, only males have it. Females are not distinguished by their different colors and brightness. Due to its shape and variegated color, the abdomen is associated with the tail of a peacock, and at the time of mating games, its abdomen straightens out, like a peacock’s tail in a similar situation. Apparently, because of this, the peacock spider received its name;
• The specific pattern and bright color of the spider looks very much like the wings of a butterfly. Very often the abdomen has circular orange-red patterns on a blue background with blue, dark gray and dark green splashes;
• legs. Fluffy with brown-gray stripes on a pale gray background. The limbs of the legs are covered with white bristles at the tips. Favorite hobby spider - raise two legs symmetrically up;
• size. It is approximately ¼ of a human fingernail - up to five millimeters. Males are slightly smaller than females - up to four millimeters;
• Because of its rear part, when at rest, the spider has an elongated body shape, which is entirely covered with a fine layer of hair. However, in dynamics, when he spreads his belly, the form expands;
• eyes. They shimmer from black to green and blue, like a dragonfly. There are eight eyes in total, arranged in 3 rows. In the first row on the front of the head there are 4 large moving eyes, in the second - 2 small eyes on the middle side of the head, in the third - 2 eyes, larger than in the second, located on the sides behind the head next to the chest part of the body.

Habitat and lifestyle

The peacock spider lives in wildlife in the eastern part of Australia in several states (mainly New Wales and Queensland). Particular attention to spiders of this species appeared about a hundred years ago.

The peacock spider is very jumpy, even over long distances, thanks to its flattened abdomen and hind legs, on which it stands when preparing to jump. When jumping, it resembles a flying insect.

Thanks to its furry paws, which are not afraid of slippery and unstable surfaces, it is characterized by increased plasticity. Since he has no ears, the world learns mainly by touch with the help of hairs that grow on the legs.

Trusting air vibrations, he recognizes sound sources. Also, the fluff on the paws helps detect odors.

Video: Interesting Facts about the peacock spider The lifespan of a spider is only a year. The baby’s body is in constant rhythmic pulsations and periodic demonstrations of its abdomen: during the mating season or to scare away enemies.

Did you know? The peacock spider weaves its web only in conditions of shade and moisture; there are many of its webs in areas of dry forests darkened by branches, and on the ground in fallen leaves.

Hunting and food

The peacock spider is a hunter; it belongs to the family of jumping spiders (Salticidae), therefore, like its entire genus, it hunts during the day. It tracks prey like a true predator. Although the spider is very small, it detects its prey at a distance of up to 20 centimeters.

Four pairs of eyes with sharp vision of almost 360-degree visibility help to see it. Their vision is one of the best among arthropods.
At first, he simply watches, waiting for the most opportune moment, after which he suddenly attacks the victim, who may be four or five times his size. Feeds different insects: crickets, ants, cockroaches, flies, aphids, psyllids.

Mating dance and reproduction of the peacock spider

To attract a female, the male rests on his two hind legs, lifts and straightens his colorful belly, moving it from a vertical to a horizontal position. After this, he raises the third pair of paws.

When the female begins to approach him, he begins to dance: move his abdomen, shake his legs and actively sway his body in a circle in different directions. At first the dance resembles an attack, although this is a mating game.

If the partner does not like the dance, then she can eat the male, but if she likes it, then she begins to copulate with him. After mating, the spider lays about half a dozen eggs. That's not much for spiders.

Video: mating dance peacock spider For two weeks, the female carefully guards her clutch, and during this entire time she lives without food, which is why there is a high risk of her death during this period. After two weeks, the little spider babies hatch.