When we think of spiders, what is the first thing that comes to our minds?

We usually think of the small brown house spiders or Tarantulas. Rarely do we think of other species of spiders.

Well, they do exist. Would you like to meet a very interesting species of spiders?

Meet these mirror spiders, spiders who belong to the Thwaitesia genus.

There are actually 22 species belonging to this genus and they’re all found in different tropical countries.

These mirror or sequined spiders have reflective splotches on their abdomen, which look like a “disco ball with lots of different mirrors.” Robert Whyte, an arachnology research expert at the Queensland Museum, said the “mirrors” scatter light and make it impossible for predators to see them.

Robert Whyte caught sight of these spiders through a small leaf. Their silvery abdomen had reflected on the leaf and created a beautiful sparkle of lights.

And this beautiful appearance compelled Whyte and other researchers to study these species. And, although they may have dispelled a lot of myths about these spiders, they could still be dangerous.

“We’re seeing a slow change in attitudes,” Whyte acknowledged. “ I think it’s because Australia has a reputation for having the world’s most dangerous everything.”

And you won’t find these mirrors beautiful after you find out what they’re made of.

The silver mirrors on the spider’s abdomen are crystalline deposits made of guanine. The spiders excrete this waste product through its gut cells located under the spider’s skin.

“Instead of excreting it all out into the environment through their poo, some of it excretes out onto the surface of the gut,” Robert Whyte explained.

Photographer Nicky Bay perfectly captured the transformation of the guanine crystals on the spider in Singapore.

The crystals started out small and spotty. The silver crystals continued to expand towards covering the entire abdomen. It took about an hour for the spider to cover its entire abdomen.

The result? A very effective form of camouflage.

“It’s particularly good camouflage in the tropical areas where it rains more because you have raindrops which also sparkle in the sun, and so the spider goes relatively unnoticed,” Whyte added.

The spider becomes invisible to predators now.

“[The] reflections from the [silver] plates may resemble those from droplets of water in the green vegetation in areas where they live,” Ron Atkinson, retired biologist, said, “and the colored bits of the spider could easily be confused with flower parts.”

The spiders go back to their pre-camouflage appearance after the threat is gone. The spider’s muscles contract to hide the silver crystals and reveal the dark skin underneath.

“It’s quite rapid colour change, rare in spiders. It’s an evolutionary niche,” Robert said.

While the Spider Identification website has only identified 22 species in the Thwaitesia genus, Robert Whyte says there could actually be more.

In fact, despite Nicky Bay’s documentation, there is actually no entry in The World Spider Catalog that these species exist in Singapore. So there’s definitely more mirror spiders to discover in the different countries.

“There are several Thwaitesia in China and Vietnam, as well as one each in Myanmar and New Guinea,” Ron Atkinson added. “I am confident that more Thwaitesia species will be found and described in Southeast Asia in the near future.”

Research is still being conducted regarding these spiders, including information on their spiderlings, and their venom.

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Source: Bored Panda, Science Friday, Australia Geographic, Spider Identification, Arachne.org.au, Nicky Bay