Flying Peacock Spider (Diversity of Life on Earth: Peacock Spiders by Bandai)

The genus Maratus, commonly referred to as peacock spiders, consists of over 80 species, all endemic to Australia. One must wonder how a single genus of spiders could speciate to this magnitude on a single geographic land mass (although there are some on Tasmania). The answer lies in their courtship rituals. Male peacock spiders, like the males of birds of paradise, engage in elaborate courtship displays, and females will only mate with males that display their species’ specific colors and movements. Most males have two tricks to their displays. One, are modified third pair of legs, which are waved like flags. Secondly, many species have modified opisthosomal flaps that open up like the tail feathers of a peacock (hence the common name for the genus). Today we will be looking at the male and female of the flying peacock spider, M. volans, which has a fairly wide distribution in Australia. The figures were released this year (well, last month) by Bandai as part of their growing line Diversity of Life on Earth. This line features taxonomically-narrow sets, including mantids (x2), wasps (x2), lizards, tortoises (x2), stag beetles (x2), rhinoceros beetles, and peacock spiders; in 2022 they will also have at least a set of scorpions, a third set of stag beetles, a second set of rhino beetles, a third set of wasps, and a Nile crocodile. The peacock spider set features five figures, including the males of the coastal peacock spider (M. speciosus), lobed peacock spider (M. lobatus), and masked peacock spider (M. personatus), in addition to today’s male and female of M. volans (see also last image). The figures in this set, like all of those in the Diversity of Life on Earth line, are large, require assembly, and have multiple points of articulation. These are highly-detailed models for display and not toys to be played with.

First let’s look at the male. The figure is designed to be displayed with its opisthosomal flaps open, so when closed, the figure is a bit stylized and geometric. The body length measures 8.0 cm for a scale of 16:1. There are 21 points of articulation: 16 in the legs; base of abdomen; base of pedipalps; and the two opisthosomal folds. The eye arrangment is correct and even though not visible in full display, spinerettes are sculpted. The paint on the cephalothorax and opisthosomal plates is spectacular, but ideally the legs should have some banding on them too; as is, the legs are solid black which does not reflect the actual animal.

Next, let’s look at the female. She is also 8.0 cm long for a scale of 16:1 (both sexes are roughly the same size). The dorsal texture and paint is spectacular, but there are a couple problems with the legs. First of all, the legs should be paler. But the biggest error is that they apparently re-used the legs of the male figures and there is a tuft of setae (the ‘flag’ on the third leg of the male) that shouldn’t be present on the female. The points of articulation are the same as the male, except for missing the two opisthosomal plates. Both sexes have an accurate number, size, and arangement of the eyes (something you have probably heard me gripe about often on the forums and blog, as few companies make an effort to get it right).

Overall these figures (well, the whole set really) come strongly recommended to collectors of interesting taxa. Their size, cost, plus the assembly and articulations, might not be desirable for most. But if spiders interest you, these are a must! Very few jumping spiders have been made as toys. For the longest time, the only two were by Safari Ltd. and a Cadbury Yowie figure, both of which were produced in 2000. Then nothing for over 15 years until Kaiyodo made two species, one each in 2016 and 2020. In late 2021, we have doubled the number of jumping spider species in toy form with this one set by Bandai!

Because it’s so spectacular, here is the entire set, left to right, back to front: M. speciosus (male), M. lobatus (male), M. volans (male), M. personatus (male), M. volans (female):