Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

How peacock spiders shimmer and shine with rainbows

The secret is in the scales.
Maratus robinsoni

A male peacock spider (Maratus robinsoni) exhibits the iridescent scales that he flashes at females during courtship. B.-K. Hsiung et al./Nat. Commun./CC BY 4.0

Diminutive spiders sparkle with every colour of the rainbow, thanks to scales shaped like aeroplane wings.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 553, 131 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-00064-y

References

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links