This newly discovered spider species is just a few millimetres long (Image: Jürgen Otto)

Could this be the spider to turn arachnophobes into arachnophiles? These tiny creatures – which have just been discovered in coastal bushland near Albany in Western Australia – wear a stunning blue mask to court females, earning them the nickname “blueface”.

Officially named Maratus personatus (the species name derives from the Latin for masked), blueface belongs to the growing family of peacock spiders – dazzling little Australian natives that are just 3 to 5 millimetres long. As the name suggests, the males use vivid colours to attract females. But unlike other peacock spiders, the male M. personatus does not have a fan-like abdomen that it extends while trying to court females. Instead, it relies on its blue mask and the characteristic white banding around it to lure lady spiders.


Look at me! The blueface spider uses its mask to attract females (Image: Jürgen Otto)

The man behind the above picture is Jürgen Otto, a mite biologist at the Australian Department of Agriculture in Sydney, who has been on a mission to document peacock spiders in Australia since 2008. He heard about blueface – a possible new species – from the Perth-based spider-specialist David Knowles.

The two set off on a mission to document it in 2013, but Knowles had an accident that prevented him from continuing the trip. Out on his own, Otto searched for hours and was about to give up until his persistence paid off, he says.

Not only did he document M. personatus in the wild, he also reared several individuals into adulthood after one of the females he collected laid eggs. When one of the egg-carrying sacks ruptured, he was able to observe all the developmental stages of the tiny spider.

Otto was able to track the spiders’ development from egg to adult (Image: Jürgen Otto)

Otto posts updates of the spiders’ development, as well as other peacock spider-related photos, on his Facebook page. He hopes that these beautiful, even cute wonders will help to restore the generally bad reputation of spiders.

Journal reference: Peckhamia, vol 127.1