Jewelry Spider - Thwaitesia margaritifera

I have been wanting to see this beautiful Spider after seeing other posts from Singapore and Australia and was taken by surprise to find one in Hong Kong.

The species known from Australia is Thwaitesia argentiopunctata.

This spider is very small in size, around 4-5 mm in size. They are called mirror or sequined spiders, which features 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.