![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mariafernandacardoso.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Colossal-300x184.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Maratus spiders of Australia are the most colourful, flamboyant, sexy, and charming spiders on the planet,\u201d says Maria Fernanda Cardoso, whose vibrant portraits capture the tiny creatures in remarkable detail. Kicking off a tour throughout Australia, the photographer\u2019s exhibition Spiders of Paradise, organized in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, highlights the arachnids\u2019 incredible diversity.<\/p>\n
Maratus are commonly referred to as \u201cpeacock spiders\u201d due to the males\u2019 brilliant displays during courtship rituals\u2014and in some cases, combat. When a male woos a partner, he raises his legs, displays a brightly patterned abdomen, and dances as if there\u2019s no tomorrow\u2014literally. If he isn\u2019t successful and allowed to mate, the female may eat him instead.<\/p>\n
The genus Maratus consists of more than 100 unique species, and averaging only about three to five millimeters in size, the minuscule jumpers are smaller than a grain of rice. \u201cTo me, their use of colour, gesture, sound, and movement makes them sophisticated and performing artists,\u201d Cardoso says.<\/p>\n