The Sydney-based biologist has painstakingly collected hundreds of spiders since 2005, when he first accidentally stepped on a "jumping" arachnid that dazzled him with its myriad of vibrant colours.
Dr Otto works as a mite expert by day and nurtures his spider hobby by night. Earlier this week, he revealed seven new species of peacock spiders to the scientific community, and he could not be more delighted with the response he has received since.
"Who would imagine that things that are four millimeters long would start moving around in a dance that is just as spectacular as a peacock?" Dr Otto said. "Nobody would dream such organisms exist, but they are real. People just can't get their heads around that so much beauty can be found in such a small animal."
The numbers speak for themselves. Dr Otto's videos and photographs of peacock spiders, posted on his social media pages, have millions of views. More than 60,000 people look out for his updates on Facebook. Even arachnophobes find the species hard to hate because they just look so glorious, according to Dr Otto.
The peacock spider. Source: Supplied
"People are used to spiders being scary and ugly and dangerous. That's why seeing spiders who don't conform with this picture gets people excited. Peacock spiders are cute, colourful, harmless, and behave in ways that remind us more of our pet cat than a spider."
Dr Otto is particularly mesmerised when watching the male spiders try to court the females through their eccentric "dance" moves. He said he enjoys not knowing exactly what combination of behaviour and colour patterns their offspring will produce.
"Not only do peacock spiders have fantastic looking adults," Dr Otto said. "They have babies that are equally cute."
"It is an exciting time to see it for the first time and photograph it. The latest ones have got something special."
While now the internet is filled with images and videos of peacock spiders, when Dr Otto stumbled upon his first more than a decade ago, his only point of reference was an animals book published in 1997. The closest image he could find in there to the arachnid he had seen was classified as a "gliding spider". It is now known - in part due to Dr Otto's discoveries - that peacock spiders cannot glide.
The peacock spider. Source: Supplied
For those hoping to come across and name some new species themselves, all hope is not lost. Dr Otto said his technique is not particularly complex, just well-refined. He walks slowly through bushland and national park walking tracks, eyes fixed to the ground, carefully looking out for anything that moves or jumps.
It was this technique that caused him to come across his most recent seven discoveries.
Last year, he had assumed all combinations of peacock spider species had been uncovered, but his findings since then have brought the confirmed species tally within the Maratus genus to 48.
"How many more spiders will there be for us to discover?" he said. "Last year I thought we were done, but then coming across two unexpected ones showed me if you keep looking you’ll probably find even more."
The peacock spider. Source: Supplied
