--- title: "Peacock Spider (Maratus volans) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "The Australian jumping spider whose males unfurl a peacock-style fan and send vibrations through the ground to win over a female." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/peacock-spider-1.webp" published: "2026-08-30" updated: "2026-10-10" --- # Peacock Spider (*Maratus volans*) > **Status**: Checked against 4 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: The Australian jumping spider whose males unfurl a peacock-style fan and send vibrations through the ground to win over a female. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Classic Funk, Soul & Disco // Earth, Wind & Fire, "September" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/3kXoKlD84c6OmIcOLfrfEs) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cKtSlsYVEU) > **Vibe Match**: In courtship the male waves an ornamented third pair of legs, and his fan swings side to side like a metronome, most often in time with the leg waves. "September" keeps that kind of steady, strutting groove. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Maratus volans* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: A hidden abdominal fan, waved in time with the third pair of legs, and vibrations sent through the ground - **Habitat**: On the ground in Australia, most often near the coast of New South Wales, with museum records from Queensland - **Diet**: Fruit flies and crickets when kept in the lab - **Tags**: arachnid, insectivore ## Natural History & Behavior ## The Fan Hidden on His Back A male peacock spider carries a secret, usually tucked around his abdomen. During courtship he unfurls brightly colored flaps into a fan that looks like a peacock's tail, and waves it at a female. This is *Maratus volans*, a jumping spider native to Australia and found most often near the coast of New South Wales. The animals in one study came from around Sydney, New South Wales. One male that researchers measured was 4.5 millimeters long. Queensland Museum records also list the species from southeastern and central Queensland. Many male jumping spiders are more ornamented than their female counterparts, but the study's authors call this species an exceptional example. In male *Maratus* spiders, the color patterns come from specialised short hairs that cover the back of the abdomen and parts of the carapace. Those hairs reflect different colors depending on the angle they are seen from. ## A Dance With a Metronome The legs are part of the act too. The male's third pair is elongated and ornamented, with a dense black tuft on one segment and a thick white clump on another. He throws them up, swings them down and flicks them back up, about 3.2 times a second. The fan swings side to side like a metronome, most often in time with the leg waves. Sometimes, when he pauses, he slowly flutters the edge of the fan. In several cases that made the female turn back toward him. ## Signals Through the Ground The show is also a concert. The male sends vibrations through whatever he is standing on, and every one of them comes with a bob of his abdomen. The most common are "rumble-rumps", each lasting about 2.4 seconds. He seems to start them as soon as he detects a female, even from far away. Up close, he adds the leg waving and the fan dance. Near the end comes the pre-mount display, with signals the researchers named crunch-rolls and grind-revs. Then he tries to mount. > **A tough crowd** The study's authors note that a female's response, receptive or aggressive, was often seen when live males and females were paired. They say it shapes how a male carries on courting. ## Lab Meals and Ground Dwellers *Maratus* spiders are mostly ground dwellers, and peacock spiders belong to the jumping spiders, a family of visual specialists. In the lab, the spiders were fed fruit flies weekly and crickets on occasion. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why do male peacock spiders dance? The dance is an audition. When researchers ran mating trials with *Maratus volans*, a male's success depended on a combination of his visual display and his vibrations. *(Source: [Girard, Elias & Kasumovic 2015]())* ### Can you hear a peacock spider? In recordings, faintly. The researchers picked up the vibrations with a laser vibrometer, and in their video an example of each signal is audible, albeit softly. Scientists still do not know how the male makes them. One idea is that he rubs paired structures on his body together, and another is that his abdomen shakes the ground through his legs. *(Source: [Girard, Kasumovic & Elias 2011]())* ### How long does a peacock spider's courtship last? In lab recordings of five males, a complete courtship took anywhere from 6 to 51 minutes, with an average of about 24 minutes. The final pre-mount display alone averaged roughly 54 seconds. *(Source: [Girard, Kasumovic & Elias 2011]())* ## Sources 1. [Girard, Kasumovic & Elias (2011). Multi-Modal Courtship in the Peacock Spider, Maratus volans (O.P.-Cambridge, 1874). PLoS ONE.]() 2. [Girard, Elias & Kasumovic (2015). Female preference for multi-modal courtship: multiple signals are important for male mating success in peacock spiders. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.]() 3. [Waldock (2013). A review of the peacock spiders of the Maratus mungaich species-group (Araneae: Salticidae), with descriptions of four new species. Records of the Western Australian Museum.]() 4. [Otto & Hill (2011). An illustrated review of the known peacock spiders of the genus Maratus from Australia, with description of a new species. Peckhamia.]() *Published August 30, 2026. 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