Hi all,
Been a while since I last posted. Been really busy.
Anyway, a mate of mine is studying Zoology, in particular the Maratus species of jumping spiders (which are the peacock spiders).
It's been a while since I last got my gear together and started shooting, so I apologise but I am VERY rusty.
They have awesome colours and metallic green eyes. In the presence of a female, the abdomen rises up and spreads out, but unfortunately, we did not have any female jumpers present at the time. Hopefully soon I will be able to capture this behavior.
notice the blue colouring on the hind legs, very interesting.
The following shots are not very good, but I put them here just to show the amazing patterns and detail these spiders have.
Do you know which Maratus this is, I don't recognise it?
I've found 2 different types of Peacock spiders in my front yard over the last couple of years, Maratus volans and Maratus pavonis. I'm pretty sure I posted them here last year.
Haven't seen any yet, this season, I'm guessing they will appear in the next couple of weeks.
Where abouts in Melbourne are you? I'm near Warburton, 70kms east of Melb
Thanks guys.
Unfortunately I do not have pics of the spider once its abdomen is upstanding as this only occurs in the presence of a female jumper and the pheromones. I hope to capture this behaviour soon though. In terms of this species, it is currently in the process of being described
I have a mate zoologist that goes hunting for these. I'm not 100% sure exactly where she finds them though. But they are rather cute and have awesome patterns. These particular spiders are approx 4mm in length.. Some shots required two full sets of kenko extension tubes to get enough mag. Adding such extension creates an awkward position for my camera flash as well which makes some shots not turn out as I would like.
I guess one day il get the MPE-65 lens.
