Elton John, Beyonce, Harry Styles – all people known for grabbing the attention of their audiences using bright, bedazzled outfits.
These same glittery appearances also occur naturally throughout the animal kingdom, and may actually help these animals avoid unwanted attention.
Shiny animals, such as insects, produce bright flashes when they reflect the sun or their surrounding environment, and for a predator this means it is trying to follow and attack a visually changeable target.
Despite the fact that movement is thought to be the enemy of camouflage, studies with both bird and insect predators have shown that attacks are less accurate towards prey that can visibly change when light hits it – but until now, no one has known why.
Researchers at the University of Melbourne used a high-speed camera to film jumping spiders attacking fake moving targets that were either really shiny, matte, or matched the background of the color of the arena.
According to the study, jumping spiders are the perfect predators for this experiment due to their preference for hunting moving prey and their excellent vision, and they are known to eat both shiny and matte animals.
ABOVE: Watch the footage of a jumping spider in action
After filming the spiders attacking fake moving prey in a controlled environment, and reviewing the high-speed footage, the researchers were able to quantify how well the spiders visually tracked prey. They found that their tracking was almost two times more variable towards shiny targets, and their attacks were, on average, two target widths away from shiny targets.
The results show that shininess creates an unpredictable target, hindering a predator's ability to precisely localize a moving, shiny animal so their attacks miss by greater amounts in any direction. So even though shiny animals can catch the eye, they are difficult to localize and capture.
High-speed cameras have become an important tool in wildlife filmmaking, showing the timelapsed growth of plants, the slow-motion wing beats of birds and bats, and have provided us with some of the amazing sequences used in wildlife films.
Similarly, camera traps have proved an essential tool in the conservation of wildlife, discovering new species and highlighting the illegal bushmeat trade.
Take a look at our guides to the best professional cameras and the best cameras for wildlife photography.
Why not take a look at our best Black Friday camera deals, and Black Friday drone deals, and the best Black Friday telescope deals.
