I found this spider on the balcony of a Brisbane, Australia quarantine hotel. About 1.5cm. Anyone know what it is?
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2$\begingroup$ Colourful find, it's not among the common listed types, or the common poisonous ones. Best to be careful and not handle until identified. Please take our tour and refer to the help center for guidance. Also, take a read of our species ID guidelines and see what you can add that might help. $\endgroup$– Jiminy Cricket.Commented Dec 8, 2021 at 13:36
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18$\begingroup$ +1 for excellent photo $\endgroup$– DKNguyenCommented Dec 8, 2021 at 15:49
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1$\begingroup$ Related: biology.stackexchange.com/questions/79038/… $\endgroup$– theforestecologist ♦Commented Dec 8, 2021 at 17:23
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5$\begingroup$ I knew Australia was taking COVID seriously, but to quarantine the spiders too is quite impressive. $\endgroup$– BruceWayneCommented Dec 9, 2021 at 18:41
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1$\begingroup$ @BruceWayne Perhaps the spider isn't quarantined; perhaps it's a guard to prevent the "guests" from escaping ;) $\endgroup$– marcelmCommented Dec 10, 2021 at 20:49
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2 Answers
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I was simply writing this as a comment, but it became too long/detailed. I wanted to supplement @timeskull's answer with a bit more nuance.
I agree that this looks like a female Cosmophasis micarioides
A more similar looking specimen to the OP's photo:
Credit: Tony Bailey , Source: findaspider.org
You can read more about the species here, including that its "extremely variable." Importantly, the mature male is much darker with blue and black lines, while the female is much brighter with reds/yellows. Sub-adult males actually look like a cross between the two:
The female can feature combinations of orange, black, red or blue-green, usually with metallic bands across the cephalothorax. The males look like females until they become sub adult, when they look like a cross between the female and the adult male...You can recognise C. micarioides males by their black face lines
@timeskull's answer looks different from the OP's specimen because the specimens in that photo are likely sub-adult males or juveniles vs. females. -- they're actually identified as juveniles here
According to Whyte & Anderson (2017)1, the species is widespread and common in tropical Australia south to Brisbane.
1. Whyte, Robert; Anderson, Greg (2017). A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia. Clayton South Vic. 3169: CSIRO publishing. p. 236. ISBN 9780643107076
answered Dec 8, 2021 at 17:07
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$\begingroup$ "Toxicity: May cause local inflammation". - "The jumping spiders are not toxic except for the Mopsus mormon." $\endgroup$– MazuraCommented Dec 9, 2021 at 10:04
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$\begingroup$ Looks like we have another "What color is the dress?" meme candidate - the blue in the original image is likely due to the reflected light appearing that color from certain angles... $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 10, 2021 at 18:14
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$\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman right you are. The name micarioides actually refers to the "micaceus" (mica-like) body scales that reflect different colors when viewed from different angles. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 10, 2021 at 18:39
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It's a female Cosmophasis micarioides.
It's obviously a salticid, so I looked through the thumbnails of jumping spiders at arachne.org.au until I saw the green and orange head bands. Fortunately they used the female spider for the thumbnail as the male looks quite different and I wouldn't have checked if it was pictured.
Description and more images on the species page:
http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=2583
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$\begingroup$ Good find. Colorful like a jumping spider, but the eyes weren't clear in the OP's photo. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 9, 2021 at 6:18