This isn’t a stained-glass sculpture or piece of delicate jewelry – it’s a real live spider. These spiders, called mirror or sequined spiders, are all members of several different species of the thwaitesia genus, which features spiders with reflective silvery patches on their abdomen.

The scales look like solid pieces of mirror glued to the spider’s back, but they can actually change size depending on how threatened the spider feels. The reflective scales are composed of reflective guanine, which these and other spiders use to give themselves color.

Not much information is available about these wonderful spiders, but the dazzling specimens in these photos were photographed primarily in Australia and Singapore.

Image credits: Nicky Bay

Image credits: Nicky Bay

Image credits: Andrew Ker

Image credits: Robert Whyte

Image credits: Nicky Bay

Image credits: Robert Whyte

Image credits: Nicky Bay

Image credits: Nicky Bay