Maratus mungaich, the banksia peacock spider, is a species of jumping spider in the family Salticidae. It is endemic to Western Australia.WSC Salticidae:Maratus mungaich(Dunn, 1947), World Spider Catalog (WSC) Retrieved 8 August 2019.
The species was first described in 1995 by Julianne Waldock. In 2013 she described a species-group for Maratus mungaich. In 2014 Waldock identified Maratus hortorum which had until then been identified as M.mungaich.
In courtship, males in the Maratus genus extend their elongated third legs,Hill, D.E. (2009) Euophryine jumping spiders that extend their third legs during courtship (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryinae: Maratus, Saitis). Peckhamia 74.1:1-27. Retrieved 6 August 2019. and only the male is so brightly and beautifully coloured.
Etymology The specific epithet, mungaich, derives from a Nyoongar word for "banksia" (mangatch).Whitehurst, R. (1997) Noongar Dictionary Noongar to English and English to Noongar (2nd Ed) Retrieved 9 August 2019.Douglas, W. (1996) Illustrated dictionary of the South-West Aboriginal language Retrieved 9 August 2019.
References
External links Maratus mungaich occurrence data records from OZCAM