The Australian peacock spider that’s got the internet hooked with its mating ritual ‘dance moves’

THIS Australian spider has the internet talking, as video of its ‘dance moves’ during a mating ritual to attract females captivate social media.

Shoba Rao

less than 2 min read

August 4, 2015 - 8:29PM

News Corp Australia Network

THIS Australian spider has the internet talking, as video of its ‘dances moves’ during a mating ritual to attract females captivate social media.

Officially known as Maratus personatus (the species name derives from the Latin for masked), the newly discovered species of the peacock spider, was discovered near Albany in Western Australia.

They have a bright blue mask to court females, earning them the nickname “blueface”, and are three to five millimetres in length.

But contrary to other peacock spiders, the male spider does not have a fanlike abdomen that it extends while trying to court females, New Scientist reports.

Instead, it relies on its blue mask and white-coloured banding around it to lure female spiders.

In their mating ritual to attract females, the male spiders flap their fans and raise a single leg, waving it to attract the female spider’s attention.

The spider was documented by Jürgen Otto, a mite biologist at the Australian Department of Agriculture in Sydney, who has been collecting information about different peacock spider species since 2008.

Otto made the discovery after first hearing about the existence of the new peacock spider species from Perth-based spider-specialist David Knowles.

Otto has shared videos and photos of the spider on his Facebook page, YouTube Channel and Flickr albums.

Some more pictures of Maratus personatus here https://www.flickr.com/photos/59431731@N05/sets/72157648830293210
Posted by Peacock Spider on Thursday, July 30, 2015

The spider has made world headlines already, after the video of its legs appearing to be dancing in air hit social media.

CBS News has described its moves as a “kind of a like a sexy arachnid Hokey Pokey”, while Discovery.com said the spider had “sick dance moves”.

Whether they love or hate spiders, readers are also sharing their views of the spider’s moves.

People are normally terrified of spiders yet i I think the Peacock Spider (Maratus personatus), is bizarrely adorable pic.twitter.com/bgd74LcZ0v
â€” Jake Mander (@JakeMander) August 3, 2015