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title: "What the sources say about the Peacock Spider | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "39 claims from the Peacock Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Peacock Spider (*Maratus volans*)

> 39 claims from the Peacock Spider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Peacock Spider](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/peacock-spider/)

## Girard, Kasumovic & Elias (2011). Multi-Modal Courtship in the Peacock Spider, Maratus volans (O.P.-Cambridge, 1874). PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025390

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The Australian jumping spider whose males unfurl a peacock-style fan and send vibrations through the ground to win over a female. | the Australian endemic peacock spider ( Maratus volans ) stands out as an exceptional example. During courtship, a male peacock spider unfurls its brightly colored opisthosomal flaps, which are typically kept tucked around the abdomen |
| send vibrations through the ground | Vibrations are caused by oscillation of the abdomen |
| Fruit flies and crickets when kept in the lab | Spiders were fed weekly a diet of fruit flies ( Drosophila melanogaster ) and occasionally crickets ( Acheta domesticus ) |
| A hidden abdominal fan, waved in time with the third pair of legs, and vibrations sent through the ground | The whole structure, which bears resemblance to the fan of a peacock, is then waved at a female in synchrony with an ornamented 3 rd pair of legs |
| 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. | a male peacock spider unfurls its brightly colored opisthosomal flaps, which are typically kept tucked around the abdomen [33] . The whole structure, which bears resemblance to the fan of a peacock, is then waved at a female |
| a jumping spider native to Australia | the Australian endemic peacock spider ( Maratus volans ) |
| The animals in one study came from around Sydney, New South Wales. | Specimens were collected around the Sydney, New South Wales, area |
| Many male jumping spiders are more ornamented than their female counterparts, but the study's authors call this species an exceptional example. | Although male salticids are often highly ornamented relative to their female counterparts, the Australian endemic peacock spider ( Maratus volans ) stands out as an exceptional example |
| The male's third pair is elongated and ornamented, with a dense black tuft on one segment and a thick white clump on another. | the 3 rd legs of Maratus males are elongated and ornamented relative to the other pairs [33] . Specifically, the metatarsi of M. volans' 3 rd legs are covered with a dense tuft of black setae and a comparably thick clump of white setae adorn the tarsi |
| He throws them up, swings them down and flicks them back up, about 3.2 times a second. | The 3 rd legs are swiftly extended and raised to an approximately vertical, erect leg wave stance. Almost immediately, the 3 rd legs, while still extended, are lowered ... Rate: 3.2±0.6 waves/sec |
| The fan swings side to side like a metronome, most often in time with the leg waves. | Open opisthosomal fan (flaps expanded) moves back and forth laterally, similar to a metronome, at varying speeds. Most often produced in synchrony with leg waving |
| Sometimes, when he pauses, he slowly flutters the edge of the fan. In several cases that made the female turn back toward him. | Sometimes during these pauses, especially if a female is not oriented directly in front of males any more (either by his or her movement), males will slowly flutter the portion of the opisthosomal fan that can be tucked around the abdomen for a few seconds ... Indeed in several cases, fan flapping elicited such a response by females who would reorient themselves towards the male after he performed this behavior |
| The male sends vibrations through whatever he is standing on, and every one of them comes with a bob of his abdomen. | analysis of video recordings demonstrated that all vibrational signals coincide with opisthosomal bobbing |
| The most common are "rumble-rumps", each lasting about 2.4 seconds. | Rumble-rumps are the most common signals produced during courtship ... Rumble-rumps are short in duration (2.44± 0 .28 sec (note: 2.44 sec in the source, rounded) |
| He seems to start them as soon as he detects a female, even from far away. | seemingly as soon as a male detects the presences of a female, and even at long-distances |
| Up close, he adds the leg waving and the fan dance. | When males get close to females, they begin to perform multimodal displays, primarily 3 rd leg waving and fan dancing (visual) along with rumble-rumps (vibrational) |
| Near the end comes the pre-mount display, with signals the researchers named crunch-rolls and grind-revs. | those that occur during the pre-mount display only, which include (a) crunch-rolls , and (b) grind-revs |
| Then he tries to mount. | At the end of a Gr-rev bout, males attempted to copulate with the female |
| 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. | female feedback, in the form of receptivity and/or aggression (often seen in trials between both live sexes) undoubtedly contributes greatly to the way in which males proceed in their courtship efforts |
| Maratus spiders are mostly ground dwellers | species of Maratus and Habronattus share elongated 3 rd legs, have similarly structured genitalia, and are primarily ground-dwelling |
| peacock spiders belong to the jumping spiders, a family of visual specialists | Jumping spiders (Family: Salticidae) are visual specialists among the arthropods |
| In the lab, the spiders were fed fruit flies weekly and crickets on occasion. | Spiders were fed weekly a diet of fruit flies ( Drosophila melanogaster ) and occasionally crickets ( Acheta domesticus ) |
| in their video an example of each signal is audible, albeit softly | An example of each signal is audible, albeit softly, in Video S1 |
| 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. | It remains unclear which mechanisms males are using to produce vibrations though. Stridulation of paired structures on their abdomen and cephalothorax may be employed. Vibrations might also be generated by tremulation, that is, abdominal oscillations transferred directly to the substrate via the animals' legs |
| In lab recordings of five males, a complete courtship took anywhere from 6 to 51 minutes, with an average of about 24 minutes. | Only complete displays that progressed to a copulation attempt were used. In total, vibrations from 5 different males were scored. Coefficients of variation were calculated to quantify variation of signal elements within individuals and across the entire group sampled. Results Total courtship time of Maratus volans ranged from 6–51 minutes (mean = 24.35±19.49 min, N = 5) (note: 24.35 min, rounded; N = 5 males) |
| The final pre-mount display alone averaged roughly 54 seconds. | Duration: 54.1±7.4 secs (note: mean 54.1 sec in the source, rounded) |
| The researchers picked up the vibrations with a laser vibrometer | Visual and vibratory courtship display elements of males were captured using a JAI CCD camera (CV-S3200) and a Polytec Scanning Laser Vibrometer |
| On the ground in Australia | species of Maratus and Habronattus share elongated 3 rd legs, have similarly structured genitalia, and are primarily ground-dwelling (note: stats.habitat) |
| tags: insectivore | Spiders were fed weekly a diet of fruit flies ( Drosophila melanogaster ) and occasionally crickets ( Acheta domesticus ) |
| In courtship the male waves an ornamented third pair of legs | the 3 rd legs of Maratus males are elongated and ornamented relative to the other pairs [33] . Specifically, the metatarsi of M. volans' 3 rd legs are covered with a dense tuft of black setae and a comparably thick clump of white setae adorn the tarsi (note: vibe.reason) |
| his fan swings side to side like a metronome, most often in time with the leg waves | Open opisthosomal fan (flaps expanded) moves back and forth laterally, similar to a metronome, at varying speeds. Most often produced in synchrony with leg waving (note: vibe.reason) |

## 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.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2222

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a male's success depended on a combination of his visual display and his vibrations | success contingent upon a combination of visual and vibratory displays |

## 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.

https://doi.org/10.18195/issn.0312-3162.28(1).2013.066-081

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In male Maratus spiders, the color patterns come from specialised short hairs that cover the back of the abdomen and parts of the carapace. | The speci fi c (and often spectacular) colour patterns on male Maratus species are the result of specialised short squamous setae, which cover the dorsal abdominal scute and parts of the dorsal carapace |
| Those hairs reflect different colors depending on the angle they are seen from. | These setae re fl ect different colours depending on the angle of orientation |

## Otto & Hill (2011). An illustrated review of the known peacock spiders of the genus Maratus from Australia, with description of a new species. Peckhamia.

https://peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA_96.1.pdf

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| One male that researchers measured was 4.5 millimeters long. | volans (4.5 mm, n=1) (note: a single measured male; the source's list is of smaller males measured) |
| Queensland Museum records also list the species from southeastern and central Queensland. | Museum records (R. Raven, pers. comm.) list M. volans from southeastern and central Queensland, as well (note: source says 'Dated Queensland Museum records') |
| found most often near the coast of New South Wales | the best-known Maratus , found most often near the coast of New South Wales |
| most often near the coast of New South Wales | the best-known Maratus , found most often near the coast of New South Wales (note: stats.habitat) |
| with museum records from Queensland | Museum records (R. Raven, pers. comm.) list M. volans from southeastern and central Queensland, as well (note: stats.habitat) |