New species of peacock spider

Amateur photographer Stuart Harris was playing with his new camera lens in an Austrailian National Park when he saw a little critter sitting on a birght yellow leaf. Right in front of him was a blue and red undiscovered species of peacock spider. Peacock spiders are small and measure just about 2-6 mm in length that belong to the genus Maratus. They are members of the Salticidae family, which are jumping spiders. Female peacock spiders are plain, but the males have  colorful abdomrn flaps that they use for mating calls. Harris uploaded his picture of the critter on social media and got sudden attention. World-reowned jumping spider expert Dr Jurgen Otto became aware of Harris’ photo and contacted him. He has never seen a peacock spider like it and classifying as a new species would take a lot more than just a photo. Harris was then asked to actually catch one of the critters.

Two and half years of searching the 1000 square-kilometer Namadgi bushiand came to an end when Harris found one along the Booromba Rocks. He then brought it to Dr.Otto for examination. The spider happened to be a new species after all and was named after its discoverer-Maratus harrisi. Harris then went to find two more new species on Black Mountain and another in a vineyard in the Majura Valley. “I have a real sense of worth and achievement,” Harris told ABC Canberra. “It certainly gave me a personal boost, it’s high on the scale of things I’ve done in my life.”