Watch the spectacular mating ritual of the tiny peacock spiders in south-east Australia



There are 20 known species of peacock spider but only eight have been formally identified

Peacock spiders are so small you could fit ten of them on a fingernail



They are found in Queensland and New South Wales in Australia


These dramatic-looking spiders may seem like they're getting ready to attack, but this colourful display from male peacock spiders is in fact a mating ritual.



Similar to peacock birds, where this spider gets its nickname from, the male flashes its brightly coloured, iridescent stomach flaps in a bid to attract females.



And even if these arachnids did attack, they wouldn't get far because the adults only grow to about 5mm long.

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Male peacock spiders extend their legs and flash their colourful, iridescent abdominal flaps to attract a mate

Peacock spiders are members of the jumping spiders family, renowned for being tiny. Adults only grow up to around 5mm in length

While the male peacock spiders carry out their mating ritual, the females carefully study the colouring, vibrations and movements to make sure the potential suitor is healthy and the correct species to mate with

This is the Maratus harrisi species of peacock spider that is traditionally found in the Namadgi National Park in New South Wales. The ruler is shown for scale

When a male peacock spider senses a female it will begin the mating ritual by lifting its legs and flashing its stomach in a sequence that looks like a dance routine.



The females carefully study the colouring, vibrations and movements of the male to make sure the potential suitor is healthy and the correct species to mate with.

Once he has mated, he will repeat this dance with as many females as he can find and Maratus spiders can have multiple partners at one time.

There are 20 known species of peacock spiders living in Australia, yet they're so hard to come by only eight have been formally identified.

The species was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in the late nineteenth century.

He said at the time: 'it is difficult to describe adequately the great beauty of the coloring of this spider.'

The photos shown here were taken by entomologist Jurgen Otto, and published in An illustrated review of the known peacock spiders of the genus Maratus from Australia .

This photo shows the Maratus mating with a female. The females are brown with black marks and are dull in comparison to the males

The tiny, colourful spiders all come from the Maratus genus of arachnids, and are members of the Salticidae family of jumping spiders.

It was first thought that the colourful stomach flaps were used to help the jumping Maratus spiders glide.

Because of this they were initially nicknamed gliding spiders. However, research has ruled this out and the display is thought to be mainly for mating.



Some peacock spiders, in particular the Maratus verpertilio, have been known to flash their stomachs during fights with other males.