Precious jewels

It’s always a thrill when an unexpected jewel turns up, like this stunning Lettered Peacock Spider (Maratus literatus) which ecologist Malcolm Worthing spotted at The Forktree Project this week while undertaking a site visit for his Phase 2 Bird and Lepidoptera Survey for the Project. Clearly not a bird, butterfly or moth, but what an incredibly beautiful creature -and so exciting for us to find it on site.

Malcolm’s summary of the sighting sums it up best:

“Though this genus is generally diurnal, this Lettered Peacock Spider (Maratus literatus) was likely confused by the light & jumped onto the light trap. As their name suggests, Peacock Spiders (over 110 species) are exceptionally colourful with most males being able raise flaps on their abdomens to display a fan of colours to female individuals nearby. This display is so elaborate that David Attenborough included footage of this genus in the documentary series: Life.”

Both images attached are of the Forktree individual. Thank you, Malcolm, for this gem of an image and for the fascinating info.