Arachnophobes might want to stop reading here… Australia, which is already renown for its spiders, can now add 50 new ones to its list.
It's a group of scientists form the Queensland Museum who found the species during a 10-day trip to Cape York. The rich ecosystem of the area and the tropical rains apparently make a perfect environment for the 8-legged creatures.
Dr Barbara Baehr, from the Queensland Museum, said to the Guardian: “Jumping spiders have a nice courtship behaviour: they dance for their women,” she said. “I once described one after Mao’s Last Dancer because I had seen the ballet and it danced like that. There is a lovely side to spiders, there’s not just a terrible, dangerous side.”
There are around 3500 known spider species in Australia and up to 15 000 that haven't been identified yet.
A brush-footed trap-door spider discovered on the trip to Cape York / Photo : Robert Whyte/Bush Blitz Source: Robert Whyte / Bush Blitz
