Hey, did you enjoy the discovery of vampire crabs as much as I did? Then meet the peacock spider, seen in the video above. The reason for the introduction is to inform you that two new species of this colorful, furry spider have been discovered in Australia and their names are Sparklemuffin and Skeletorus. Sparklemuffin wanted me to tell you that despite his adorable name, he is very, very strong. Skeletorus would like you know that this is his real name and not his death metal stage name.
Peacock spiders are so named because of the decorative markings on the males, which help them attract the ladies, which are brown. Sparklemuffin (Maratus jactatus) and Skeletorus (Maratus sceletus) were discovered in Australia by University of California, Berkeley graduate student Madeline Girard, who was traipsing through the fields minding her own business when these spiders just started hitting on her. But because of their beautiful markings and fancy mating dance, she was powerless to resist their charms.
And they danced all night, into a webby trap of nightmares and fear.
If, by chance, you have also fallen under the spell of the peacock spiders Sparklemuffin the Brave and Skeletorus, Master-achnid of the Universe, visit the official Facebook page of Jürgen Otto, who also keeps a Flickr page full of spiders, a totally normal thing to have.
Source: Laughing Squid