Meet This Colorful Australian Peacock Spider
Several new species of peacock spider – just a few millimetres long and featuring extraordinary colours – have been discovered in Western Australia and South Australia. Jürgen Otto, a biologist from Sydney, has been researching the arachnids since 2005, and has gained a significant following online with his footage. He believes there are now 48 confirmed species of peacock spider within the Maratus genus, found across Australia but particularly in Western Australia – and many more awaiting confirmation. Here: Maratus Tasmanicus, one of seven new species of peacock spiders studied and photographed by the Sydney biologist Jürgen Otto. Continue reading »
This Is What Peacock Feathers Look Like Under A Microscope
Canadian software engineer and photographer Waldo Nell shows us just how fabulous peacock feathers are – even at a microscopic level. Using an Olympus BX 53 microscope, Nell employed a technique called ‘photo stacking’. It involves combining hundreds of pictures taken at different focal points to get an image with a greater depth of field. Continue reading »
Wedding Gown Made out of More than 3000 Peacock Feathers
A peacock farm in Linyi, northern China’s Shandong Province, has created a wedding gown made out of more than 3,000 peacock feathers. According to farm owner Qiu Yun it took 3,150 feathers collected from more than 200 male peacocks to make the dress, which took two months to be put together. (Quirky China News / Rex Features)
