Catalogue of the Australian peacock spiders (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini: Maratus, Saratus), version 3
Author
Otto, Jürgen C.
19 Grevillea Avenue, St. Ives, New South Wales 2075, Australia
jurgenotto8@gmail.com
Author
Hill, David E.
213 Wild Horse Creek Drive, Simpsonville, SC 29680 - 6513, USA,
platycryptus@yahoo.com
text
Peckhamia
2019
2019-09-20
148
3
1
28
journal article
23262
10.5281/zenodo.3732535
51dd01d2-0bb5-4a5b-8713-0b6f1d4cc621
1944-8120
3732535
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:19E32A8E-798B-49AE-BE73-168B57D2D44E
The
mungaich
group
This large group, endemic to the southern part of Western Australia, includes species with very wide, brightly-coloured fans covered with a pattern of bright red scales on a background of iridescent scales. All males in the group extend legs III, but several (
M. avibus
,
M. bubo
,
M. caeruleus
, and
M. madelineae
) closely bracket the fan with legs III as they display. In all species the expanded fan figures most prominently in courtship display, characterized by side to side rotation of the fan with legs III held in place. We recognize four distinct clades within this group: 1)
M. bubo
with a unique owl-like figure and bright orange lateral margins on the fan, 2)
M. avibus
+
M. caeruleus
+
M. madelineae
with a large unmarked area of iridescent scales toward the front of the fan, 3)
M. karrie
and
M. sarahae
with a wide central black patch and large black spots on the flaps and 4)
M. gemmifer
+
M. hortorum
+
M. melindae
+
M. mungaich
with a narrower central black patch and (if present) a small black or iridescent blue-white spot at the center of each flap.