Data from: Glossiness disrupts predator localisation of moving prey

Movement is the “enemy of camouflage”, but most animals must move to find
resources, such as mates, food and shelter. Therefore, strategies that
disrupt predator localization or speed perception of moving prey can play
a crucial role in prey survival.  Shiny or glossy appearances,
which are characterised by having a high degree of specular (mirror-like)
reflection of incident light, can disrupt predator hunting behaviours
towards moving prey. Different mechanisms may explain this effect, but no
study has attempted to identify the mechanisms that disrupt perception of
moving glossy prey by non-human predators. Here, we present glossy green
or grey targets to jumping spiders (Maratus griseus) and precisely
document predator hunting behaviours using high speed videography. Jumping
spiders were less precise at tracking glossy targets compared to control
targets, suggesting glossiness may disrupt localisation of targets.
Importantly for prey, jumping spider attack accuracy was substantially
reduced towards glossy prey compared to control targets. These results
were independent of underlying target colour, suggesting benefits of
glossiness may be generalisable to differently coloured glossy animals.
Our results indicate that glossiness creates an unpredictable target that
is difficult for predators to localise, offering insights into the
prevalence of dynamically coloured organisms in nature.