Here’s another reason why the land Down Under is awesome. It’s home to the beautiful peacock spider.
Even if you suffer from arachnophobia, have no fear: This video of peacock spiders “dancing” to the YMCA is so entertaining that it will override any spider phobia.
Dr. Jurgen Otto, an entomologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, captured the first-ever footage of this small arachnid. YouTube-user Dario Trovato then edited Otto’s footage to create this hilarious compilation and spread worldwide adoration toward these arachnids.
Of course, peacock spiders aren’t actually dancing in this video; males are engaging in a courtship dance to attract females, which entails waving their legs, vibrating their abdomen and then waving and showcasing their colorful, peacock-like abdominal flaps, among other elaborate motions. But, the males must be careful: Excessive flaunting may cause the dull-colored females to eat them.
The peacock spider belongs to a family of jumping spiders found exclusively in diverse Australian habitats. Though they’re tiny — slightly smaller than the average fingernail — they have huge eyes and are excellent jumpers. In fact, they’re able to jump 40 times the length of their size in search of food, like crickets. Their biggest threat, reports the Sierra Club, is habitat destruction — especially from controlled burns to prevent the spread of wildfires.
