Maratus mungaich, : Waldock, 1995

Otto, Jürgen C. & Hill, David E., 2021, Catalogue of the Australian peacock spiders, Peckhamia 148 (4), pp. 1-35 : 15

The mungaich group

Endemic to the southern part of Western Australia, this group includes species with very wide, brightlycoloured 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.