Dancing peacock spiders turned an arachnophobe into an arachnologist

Not yet a college graduate, Joseph Schubert has described 12 of 86 known peacock spider species

One of seven newly described peacock spiders, Maratus azureus, from the southwestern region of the state of Western Australia, was named for the deep blue color on its flashy abdomen.

Joseph Schubert

Joseph Schubert spends hours at a time lying in the dirt of the Australian outback watching for tiny flickers in the sparse, ground-hugging foliage.