The peacock spider is poisonous or not. Peacock spider: appearance and mating dance of a beautiful insect. Description and photo

Bright, colorful, miniature spiders live in Australia. Live in wild nature, almost never approach a person's home. The name came from the unusual appearance of males, mating behavior. Females of this species are inconspicuous - gray, brown, but somewhat larger in size.

Appearance description

The peacock spider is a miniature arthropod no larger than 5 mm in size. Males have a bright color, attractive appearance. The belly is colored orange, blue, red, Blue colour, forming a clear pattern. Along the contour, long villi resembling feathers stand out. The cephalothorax, legs are gray. The last limbs are somewhat longer than the rest. Females are always larger, inconspicuous brown-gray color. A photo of a peacock spider is located below.

There are 4 pairs of eyes on the head. They provide a wide range of perspectives. But vision is poor. The peacock spider sees only silhouettes, shadows at a distance of 30 cm from itself. Responds well to movement, smells. The organs of smell and touch are the lower parts of the limbs.

Interesting!

In an unfamiliar area, the arachnid initially feels everything with its feet, then begins to move forward.

Features of the behavior of a peacock

Of interest is a male with a bright color. Variegated colors are needed to attract females. The cavalier raises the abdomen, hind limbs, begins to move from side to side, as if performing a ritual dance. Outwardly, all this resembles the movement of a peacock, hence the name. For the rest of its life, the spider lowers its legs, folds its “tail”.

Interesting!

The chosen one, who dared to approach at the wrong moment, the female eats. The same thing happens with the "cavalier" after fertilization, if he does not have time to hide in time. This is one of the reasons why the lifespan of female peacocks is much longer.

After fertilization, it forms a cocoon and breaks off eggs. A few weeks later, a young generation of peacocks appears, which almost immediately begins an independent life. They molt several times, constantly increasing in size. On last step sexual organs are formed. The maximum lifespan of a female is 12 months.

Nutrition

The peacock spider is a predator. It does not form trapping nets, but protects its shelter. The peacock prefers not to wait for the victim, but to track it down. The main diet is insects. It even attacks those specimens that are several times larger than the hunter in size. Powerful jaws bites through the chitinous cover, holds the victim with its paws, injects poison, saliva.

The toxic substance causes muscle paralysis, saliva turns the insides into a liquid mass in a few minutes. The peacock spider sucks out food, leaving only a chitinous cover. Can live without food for about a month. For proper nutrition, it is enough to catch insects 1 time in 10 days.

Human danger

The peacock spider has venom glands, but for humans, this dose is too low to cause significant harm. The spider rarely attacks, it can bite, only defending itself, protecting its own life. Redness, burning, swelling appear on the spot. The condition returns to normal in a few days.

Because of unusual look Peacock spiders are often kept as pets. They live in artificially created conditions for no more than a year, they breed. Feed insects once a week.

Interesting!

Peacock spiders are chosen for treatment related to arachnids. Patients are advised to observe arthropods, touch them, pick them up. This type of horses is the most convenient option. The spider is small, beautiful in appearance, does not cause feelings of disgust, fear.

You may not like spiders, or suffer from arachnophobia, but this bewitching dance of the Australian peacock spider (Moratus Vilans) will not leave you indifferent.

The peacock spider (Maratus volans) despite its tiny size, the males of this species can be recognized by their bright iridescent coloration, which is dominated by red, green and blue hues.

The cephalothorax (cephalothorax) and legs of the peacock spider are usually dark brown or black with red stripes. The upper part of the abdomen is greenish, the stripes on it are bright red and blue.

Females and juveniles of both sexes are dull brown-gray in color.

Adult peacock spiders reach a length of no more than 4-5 mm. Representatives of Maratus volans can be found in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales.

Male peacock spiders have two rounded shields on the sides of the abdomen, which are like folds of skin and, when folded, are closely pressed to the body.

All representatives of the jumping spider family have excellent eyesight and are able to spot prey at a distance of 20 cm. Meanwhile, bright coloring The peacock spider serves very specific purposes. Why this spider got its name becomes clear in mating season.

Seeing the female, the male peacock spider lifts his belly vertically upwards, spreads his shields and proudly displays them like a peacock's tail. To heighten the effect, he also raises the third pair of legs with black bristles and bright white ends. Then the male performs a passionate, bewitching dance in front of the female, vibrating with his legs and belly raised up. And, in the end, this courtship dance is a success.

After mating, the male switches to other females, showing off and performing the same dance in front of them. The courtship behavior of the male Maratus volans is in many ways similar to that of the European Saitis barbipes. The official Latin name for the peacock spider has changed several times. It was first called Attus volans, then Saitis volans, and more recently it was renamed Maratus volans.

Over a hundred years ago, Australian spiders were first studied and named by European arachnologists. Later, as a result of a deeper study, it was revealed that some of the spiders of Australia are fundamentally different from their European relatives. Therefore, the names of several species have been changed.

Maratus volans has received several common names: flying spider, gliding spider and (most preferred) peacock spider. And while the word "volans" (from Latin for "winged") suggests that the peacock spider is capable of flight, in fact, it has never been seen to use its abdominal scutes to increase the distance of its jumps. He needs this adaptation only during the courtship period in order to show off in front of the females, like a real peacock.

peacock spider (Maratus volans) is the most beautiful spider in the world. The amazing feature of which is - marriage ritual.

(14 photos + HD video of the mating ritual of the peacock spider)

2) The peacock spider is about 5 millimeters in size. It's amazing how many bright colors these tiny creatures have.

3) The male spider has a colorful belly, which he straightens like a male peacock spreads his tail like a fan. With this abdomen, the spider attracts females.

4) Seeing the female, this little spider raises the abdomen and gives it the shape of an oval. Then he raises up a pair of his paws. When the female approaches him, he will begin to perform the mating ritual: he shakes his abdomen, paws and dynamically moves from side to side.

5) The ritual of attracting a female turns into a real dance, very bright and beautiful.

6) The purpose of such rituals is to demonstrate all their beauty and splendor.

7) If the female likes the dance, she will allow you to mate with her.

8) Unfortunately, if the male fails to hit the female, he can become her prey.

9) The dance of the peacock spider can only be seen through the macro lens of the camera with a multiple increase - this is one of the examples of the amazing beauty of nature that surrounds us daily, but is inaccessible to the naked eye.

10) The peacock spider has excellent eyesight, despite its small size, it can detect prey at a distance of 20 centimeters.

11) Brilliant coloration is not just decorative - it helps the spider survive.

What do you feel when you think about spiders? Disgust? Disgust? Isn't it rather difficult to call these creatures handsome? It is unlikely that they will cause tenderness and a desire to admire everyone you meet, but do not rush to conclusions - now we will tell you about the true beauty among all the spider brethren - the peacock spider!

What does a peacock spider look like?

Imagine a fluffy furry creature with gray-white paws, eight blue sparkling eyes and an orange fringe on the forehead. The most important decoration of this arthropod is the abdomen of unusually bright colors: on its azure background you can see bright red circles and stripes, and along the edge of the abdomen is framed by a fluffy orange rim.

However, not every spider of this species is fluffy, and the color of the abdomen is different in different types, but in any case it is a combination of blue, red, green and orange tones. And everyone looking at him admits that this spider is really handsome!

The peacock spider got its name not only for its bright coloring, but also for the fact that it straightens, showing off, its multi-colored abdomen, just like a peacock spreads its tail.

Note that only the males of this individual are endowed with extraordinary beauty - the females look modest and inconspicuous, because in the spider world there is no decorative cosmetics.

The mating dance of the peacock spider

External beauty is not the only advantage maratus volans(lat. the name of this spider). If spider championships in mating dances were held in nature, then here the peacock spider would collect all kinds of prizes.

It is necessary to see how, with elegant grace, at the moment of seduction, the spider moves its bright abdomen from a horizontal position to a vertical one and dazzles its lady with the radiance of iridescent colors.

For greater effect, the Don Juan raises a pair of legs, decorated with white bristles at the tips, and begins his charming dance. To please the "lady of the heart" is vital for the spider, because otherwise it can serve as dinner for its intended partner.

What else, besides beauty and the ability to dance gracefully, is this representative of the arachnid family endowed with nature? There are hypotheses that the peacock spider can jump great distances and even fly with the help of its straightened abdomen, but so far this is only a hypothesis, but true fact is that he has excellent eyesight.

Eight eyes provide him good review, because only four shiny beads look ahead. The spider will be able to spot prey more than 20 centimeters away, which is a huge distance for a 4-5 mm creature.

The brain of a peacock spider is quite large and occupies about a third of the volume of the cephalothorax, perceives the environment mainly by touch. It has no ears, “hears” with the help of hairs located on its legs, it detects the source of sound, deciphering the air vibrations produced.

The smells help the spiders to recognize again the hairs on the legs, they also help to determine whether the prey is edible. What do spiders eat? Their main food is small insects - aphids and psyllids, but they can profit, as we already know, from their colleagues.

Habitat and breeding at home

You can meet a peacock spider in the wild only in Australia, and even then not everywhere, but only in some states in eastern australia(mainly in New Wales, but also in the desert areas of Queensland).

Note that the spiders of this continent were studied only about a hundred years ago and are decisively different from their other relatives.

Keeping the Australian peacock spider at home is possible, but not widely used due to their small size, however, amateur arachnophiles sometimes keep spiders of this species at home.

They are very peaceful, curious and do not pose a danger to humans at all. You can not be afraid to pick them up (unless, of course, you are not afraid to accidentally crush it), because they are much smaller than a human fingernail. Some owners even feed plant aphids to their pets using tweezers and possibly a magnifying glass. Peacock spiders do not live long: only a year.

Scientists have found that about 5 percent of the world's population is terrified of spiders. This fear is uncontrollable and is called arachnophobia. The fear of spiders is the second most common fear of animals (after the fear of dogs).

Sick people experience increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, panic even at the sight of a photograph of a spider or just at the thought of it.

To overcome this condition, doctors suggest that the patient examine the insect and gradually contact with it. Perhaps the best specimen for this is the handsome peacock spider.

In this video you can see an unusually beautiful mating dance peacock spider:

If spiders held championships in mating dances, their annual winner would be a peacock spider that lives in Australia.

“Why do you girls love beautiful ones?”

Nature did not stint on paints for this 5 mm don Juan, splashing the whole palette on his belly - from bright yellow to purple hues.

The abdomen shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow performs the function of a peacock's tail: at the right moment, the spider transfers it from a horizontal plane to a vertical one and proceeds to seduce the female.

The dance is very similar to a shamanic ritual - the spider quickly glides on six legs from side to side, while trembling with a rounded abdomen and raising two central legs up.

All parts of his tiny body are in constant motion, obeying an unknown rhythm.

A spectacular appearance, coupled with a hypnotic dance, helps the peacock achieve the location of the spider, which, however, always reserves the right to devour the rejected applicant.

The peacock spider, in turn, never remains faithful to his partner and mates with all the "ladies" who show interest in his mating dances.

By the way, spider females are painted much more modestly, and bright males show their abdomens not only during the mating season, but also in order to scare away their enemies.

You can find out by reading the relevant article on our website.

Maratus volans

Volans is translated from Latin as “winged”, but this tiny spider cannot fly: the researchers mistakenly took its lightning-fast movements with the help of jumps for flight.

The peacock spider belongs to the jumping spider family, and, like all its relatives, it goes hunting during the day.

He has sharp eyesight and a focused look: he notices the victim 20 cm away from him. Four pairs of eyes help him detect prey (small insects), providing an almost 180-degree view.

Furry paws not only give these spiders a special charm, but also allow them to easily overcome slippery sheer surfaces.

Jumpers in captivity

There is no reliable information about breeding a peacock spider at home, although spiders of the jumping family are kept in captivity.

They are fed crickets and cockroaches, springtails and psyllids. One bag takes Plastic container for 300 mg. The soil is not needed, constantly moist cotton wool and a paper corner are required.

All jumpers, and the peacock spider is no exception, do not live very long: about a year. The conditions of detention do not affect the increase in the life of funny spiders.

Peacock spider (video)