New species | The Queensland Museum Network Blog

Queensland Museum scientists have discovered five new jumping spider species.

Have you ever seen a more adorable spider? These cute and colourful jumping spiders are changing the reputation of arachnids around the world.

Queensland Museum arachnologist, Dr Barbara Baehr, along with colleagues Joseph Schubert from Monash University, and Dr Danilo Harms from University of Hamburg recently described the new Australian species which feature vibrant colours and perform fascinating dance rituals.

SPIDERS Salticidae Jotus sp. nov. cf auripes New Species, closest yet to the type species Jotus auripes which also has vivid red orange inner legs 1.

Four of the five new species are from Queensland with one from New South Wales. At only a few millimetres in size, they can be difficult to spot, despite their stunning colours.

The New Species
Jotus albimanus – White-handed Brushed Jumping Spider
Found: New England National Park, New South Wales

Jotus fortiniae (Picture above left, image by Robert Whyte)
Found: Cape York Peninsula, Quinkan Country, Queensland

Jotus karllagerfeldi – Karl Lagerfeld’s Jumping Spider (picture above right, image by Mark Newton)
Found: Lake Broadwater via Dalby, Queensland

Jotus moonensis – Mount Moon Brushed Jumping Spider
Found: Mount Moon, Queensland

Jotus newtoni – Mark Newton’s Brushed Jumping Spider
Found: Lake Broadwater via Dalby, Queensland

Dance like your mate is watching
The spiders are known as Brushed Jumping Spiders due to the elaborate mating dance of the males, which involves a brush of long and often colourful setae on their legs (like butterflies).

Joseph Schubert said the colour patterns in the males are species-specific and range from black and white combinations to extremely colourful morphs featuring iridescent turquoise and orange patterns.

J. fortiniae 4 (Robert Whyte) — *Jotus fortiniae* (image by Robert Whyte)

“The males perform unique dance rituals with their brilliantly decorated first pair of legs to attract females,” Mr Schubert said. “These five new species are close relatives of the Australian peacock spiders which also perform courtship dances for females. This courtship behaviour makes them a crowd favourite and has popularised jumping spiders worldwide.”

Karl Lagerfeld’s Jumping Spider
In true fashion style, the scientists paid homage to the late fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, by naming a spider in his honour. Dr Danilo Harms, said the Karl Lagerfeld spider had a distinct look that was reminiscent of the late fashion designer.

“Jotus karllagerfeldi is a black and white spider which we looked at and instantly thought of Karl Lagerfeld and his signature look, as the spider has large black eyes, which reminded us of sunglasses and its black and white front legs were reminiscent of Lagerfeld’s kent collar,” he said.

J. karllagerfeldi (Mark Newton) 2 — *Jotus karllagerfeldi* – **Karl Lagerfeld’s Jumping Spider (image by Mark Newton)**

Learn more at the Discovery Centre
Are you curious about an unidentified spider you’ve found in your backyard? Ask one of our experts here or visit the Discovery Centre on Level 4 to meet museum experts, ask questions and view exciting displays.

Remember to share you visit with us on social media by using the tag #DiscoveryQM and #myqldmuseum.

Did you know Skinks are the largest and most diverse family of lizards and range in size from as small as 22 millimetres right up to the common Blue-tongue up to around 320 millimetres?

Queensland Museum scientists have described three new species of skinks found in a small pocket of land in North Queensland. The three new species are Lerista anyara, Lerista alia and Lerista parameles.

Lerista anyara, Olkola country, Qld. S. Wilson. 8139 — *Lerista anyara. Photo by Steve Wilson, Queensland Museum.*

Found in the remote Olkola National Park in north Queensland, the skink (Lerista) was discovered by consultants working with Traditional Owners on the Kimba Plateau, in Cape York, following Bush Blitz, a species discovery program. The Olkola people who helped find the skink, contacted Queensland Museum herpetologist Dr Andrew Amey who confirmed it was a new species.

Fig-8-Lerista-alia-J94337_live_a — *Lerista alia. Photo by Steve Wilson, Queensland Museum.*

Dr Amey worked with senior curator reptiles, Patrick Couper and Research Fellow and Molecular Identities Lab Manager, Dr Jessica Worthington-Wilmer, to describe the new species, Lerista anyara, which is known to only inhabit the Kimba Plateau.

“It was quite surprising to find the presence of skinks on Kimba Plateau as the nearest relative is 500 kilometres south, so it’s very interesting they exist on this small pocket of land,” Dr Amey said.

Dr Amey said he enjoyed working with skinks because of their diversity. “Because of the diversity between different species, they can be difficult to define, most have smooth, shiny overlapping body scales and have four legs, with five fingers and toes, but some have small reduced limbs with few digits or even no limbs at all,” he said.

Lerista parameles, QMJ95806. Savannah Way via Almaden, Qld. S. Wilson. 8372 — *Lerista parameles. Photo by Steve Wilson, Queensland Museum.*

Queensland Museum CEO Dr Jim Thompson said recording new species and understanding their distribution is critical to ensuring their long term conservation. “It’s a credit to our Queensland Museum scientists that they continue to describe new species and enrich our knowledge of the state’s biodiversity,” he said. “As a scientist you never stop learning and researching and taxonomy is just one of the many roles the scientists undertake here at the museum, for the benefit of all Queenslanders.”

Explore Wild State on level 4 of the Museum to view more Queensland animal species.