Maratus volans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874)

Otto, Jürgen C. & Hill, David E., 2019, Catalogue of the Australian peacock spiders (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini: Maratus, Saratus), version 3, Peckhamia 148 (3), pp. 1-28 : 21

The volans group

This group contains three of the most colourful peacock spiders. Males of all three species have a large, fringed fan with distinctive figures comprised of pigmented scales on a background of iridescent scales. Courtship display of all three is similar, but M. pardus tends to display the fan behind the extended legs III, M. volans in front of legs III, and M. elephans with one leg III in front of the fan and one leg III behind it. M. elephans and M. pardus are known from only a few localities, but M. volans is widely distributed along the east coast of Australia and is easily the best-known of all peacock spiders. The species name volans relates to the fact that Pickard-Cambridge (1874) was told that this spider used its flaps to fly (although he also guessed that they had a "sexual" function). A black and white sketch of a Maratus volans specimen was figured in an early guide to flying animals of the British Museum (Ridewood 1912). This was the only peacock spider featured in a popular guide to Australian spiders by Mascord (1970), who still thought that it might fly.