What does the peacock spider eat? Mating dance of the peacock spider (Maratus volans). Description of appearance

). Local scientist Jurgen Otto and his colleagues studied them for three years after the first meeting. Peacock spiders belong to the largest family of jumping spiders (Salticidae), numbering more than 5,000 species. Spiders from this family are usually small or even small, they lead a wandering lifestyle. They got their name from their ability to make very long (compared to their body size) jumps. Males are usually slightly smaller than females and more brightly colored. In addition, these spiders have eight eyes, the front pair of which are greatly enlarged, creating a rather recognizable “face”. Their vision is excellent, one of the best among arthropods.

Peacock spiders are known for their mating dances. Like many other species of spiders, their females are larger than their males and are not averse to taking a bite from an unwary suitor. Therefore, the males have developed special dances that should show the female that this is not prey, but a mating partner, and also, apparently, kindle desire in her. The dances are very entertaining and consist of gestures in different pairs paws (usually the third), shaking the abdomen and sudden movements from side to side. Nevertheless, the male is always on guard, because a particularly hungry female may not wait for the end of the dance and, instead of amorous adventures, will prefer to satisfy her hunger.

Peacock spiders, found only in southern Australia, live up to their name by the luxurious coloring of their abdomen, which they lift up and open in the same way as a peacock spreads its tail. They were first found and described in 1874 ( Maratus volans), and since then about 50 species have been discovered, seven of which have recently joined these ranks. There are a dozen more new species in the process of being described. According to Jürgen Otto, it was impossible to find money for the research, so everyone who participated in the search and study of these spiders did so voluntarily and at their own expense. “There are always problems with financing when you work on organisms that are unknown and not interesting to anyone,” the scientist complained. - There is a great temptation to name them after some famous person to draw attention to them. For example, one fly was recently named after Beyoncé. But I'm always against such things. Let these animals be better known for their own beauty, and not for joining the glory of others."

Jürgen Otto also took wonderful photographs of these spiders and mating dance video. It's definitely worth visiting his page on the photo hosting site Flickr, where you can marvel at the diversity of these beautiful spiders and appreciate the elegance of their courtship. All photos in this post are taken from there.

In the photo - a male peacock spider Maratus caeruleus. Photo © Jurgen Otto.

Tigran Oganesov

This species of peacock spider was first recorded in 1874. Peacock spider (Maratus volans) is a species of jumping spider of the genus Maratus from the subfamily Euophryinae. For a long time These spiders haven't received much attention, so Australian scientist Jurgen Otto has made it his mission to study these fascinating arachnids.

photo:michael doe

The males of this species, like other jumping spiders of the genus, are known for their brightly colored abdomens with orange, blue and red markings. The shiny coloration serves not only for decoration, it is used by the spider to attract a female.

The female peacock spider is the same size as the male, but she is completely deprived of the bright colors that have attracted the public to the males. It is usually grayish-brown in color.

The peacock spider is famous for its mating dance. During it, he becomes vertical, raises two rounded, most brightly colored flaps that are located on either side of his stomach and demonstrates his superiority with all his might.

photo: Jurgen Otto

To attract the female's attention peacock spider begins to vibrate its belly and moves from side to side. In addition, he raises a third pair of legs, which have black bristles with white tips, and begins his amazing dance.

It is the bright appearance and fascinating marriage ritual brought such fame to the peacock spider and the entire genus Maratus. After mating, the peacock spider goes in search of the next partner, before whom it again performs its mating ritual.

These are very tiny creatures - only four to five millimeters in length. The peacock spider is endemic to Australia. He likes to hide in the bushes, so it is difficult to see him. This spider has excellent vision; it can detect prey at a distance of 20 centimeters. The peacock spider feeds on small insects and is diurnal.

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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.

Mating dance The peacock spider resembles 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.

How do you feel when you think about spiders? Disgust? Disgust? Isn’t it true that it’s quite difficult to call these creatures handsome? It is unlikely that they will evoke tenderness and a desire to admire in everyone they 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, shaggy creature with gray-white paws, eight sparkling blue eyes and an orange fringe on its forehead. The most important decoration of this arthropod is the abdomen of unusually bright color: 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 differs from 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 truly handsome!

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

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

Mating dance of peacock spider

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

You need to see how, with elegant grace, at the moment of seduction, the spider moves its bright abdomen from a horizontal to a vertical position and blinds 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 enchanting dance. It is vitally important for the spider to please the “lady of his heart”, because otherwise he can serve as dinner for his intended partner.

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

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

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

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

Habitat and breeding at home

Meet at wildlife the peacock spider is only allowed in Australia, and not everywhere, but only in the territory of 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 is not widespread due to their small size, however, arachnophile hobbyists sometimes keep spiders of this species at home.

They are very peaceful, curious and pose no danger to humans at all. You don’t have to be afraid to pick them up (unless, of course, you’re afraid of accidentally crushing them), because they are much smaller in size than a human nail. 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 are terrified of spiders. This fear is uncontrollable and is called arachnophobia. Fear of spiders is the second most common fear of animals (after fear of dogs).

Sick people experience increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, and panic even when they see a photo of a spider or just think about it.

To overcome this condition, doctors offer the patient viewing the insect and gradual contact with it. Perhaps the best specimen for this is the beautiful peacock spider.

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

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).