Nemo goes viral: the tiny local spider that captured the attention of the world’s media

Last month we brought you the story of the Nemo peacock spider (Maratus nemo), a newly named little spider with an orange and white striped face that I found at Mt Burr Swamp (if you missed it, catch up here). Since the release of the scientific paper describing the spider on March 26th 2021, I have been amazed by the publicity my discovery has received!

My media journey began with an interview with the Melbourne Museum which was responsible for releasing to the public the exciting find initially. Locally I was interviewed by two newspapers; you can see the Border Watch article below, or read it online here). I have also had radio stations contact me, but the story picked up the most publicity through Facebook pages sharing and re-writing it like the Nine News, ABC South East, and the Sydney Morning Herald just to name a few. The discovery was also shared by media in the UK, USA, Spain, China, India, and Japan! Most recently, I was even interviewed by National Geographic magazine! See the piece here.

I have to say that I am deeply humbled by the attention that a tiny little spider found in my neighbourhood has received, not just from here, but all over the world.