A NEW species of Peacock Spider, but with a sombre fate. 🌈🦚 😔 Last October, @LucynakWild, @reefcoakley and I found this incredible Peacock Spider in the dunes of Eglinton in Western Australia. The only area this spider has ever been found in is designated as a future housing development. 🏠❌ The Swan Coastal Plain is one of the most biodiverse coastal areas in the world, harbouring an immense amount of species and colours. Unfortunately, urban development has seen these dunes and other coastal habitats disappear for more and more suburbs. 🚜🌳 For thousands of years this spider and other species have co-existed in this breath-taking heathland, until we have intervened. This year, the incredible duo of Michael Lun (photographer of this image) and Flynn Prall have gone back to the site and found more specimens. Multiple days surveying nearby habitats have resulted in no specimens. Quite a lot of Western Australia’s Peacock Spider species are short range endemics and are only found in very isolated pockets. 🕷️🦚 It is almost certain that Western Australia has lost many of these colour Peacock Spiders before they were even discovered from land clearing for agriculture and urban development. 🪓 What is going to be done about this? We seem to continuously accept the declining fates of our beautiful species. Photo by the young and incredibly talented Michael Lun. For more of his Peacock Spider photos check out his instagram - wa_peacock_jumping_spiders 🕷️🌈
