Brettus

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Brettus
Brettus sp 06734 cropped.jpg
Brettus sp. in Kerala, India
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Spartaeinae
Genus: Brettus
Thorell, 1895
Type species
Brettus cingulatus
Thorell, 1895
Species

See text

Diversity
6 species

Brettus is a genus of jumping spiders. Its six described species are found in southern Asia from India to China and Sulawesi, with a single species endemic to Madagascar.

Contents

Two species in this genus, B. celebensis and B. madagascarensis, were originally described as members of the genus Macopaeus . [1]

According to Thorell, the genus name is taken from Greek mythology. Brettos (Βρεττος) was a son of Heracles [2] (appears at Stephanus of Byzantium).

Diet and behaviour

At least 2 species, Brettus cingulatus and Brettus adonis , feed on other spiders. Taking advantage of their ability to not adhere to any kind of spider silk, they practise aggressive mimicry and pluck upon the webs of web-building spiders to lure them over to the Brettus at the edge of the web, where they capture/stab their victim. [3] These two spider species also prefer web-building spiders to insects as prey. They are in these regards similar to the other Spartaeinae jumping spiders of genera Portia, Cyrba and Gelotia . [4]

Species

Footnotes

  1. World Spider Catalog
  2. Greek Mythology Index: Brettus
  3. Jackson, Robert R.; Hallas, Susan E. A. (1986-10-01). "Predatory versatility and intraspecific interactions of spartaeine jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae): Brettus adonis, B. cingulatus, Cyrba algerina, and Phaeacius sp. indet". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 13 (4): 491–520. doi: 10.1080/03014223.1986.10422979 . ISSN   0301-4223.
  4. Jackson, Robert R. (2000-01-01). "Prey preferences and visual discrimination ability of Brettus, Cocalus and Cyrba, araneophagic jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from Australia, Kenya and Sri Lanka". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 27 (1): 29–39. doi: 10.1080/03014223.2000.9518206 . ISSN   0301-4223.

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Brettus adonis, is a species of spider of the genus Brettus. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Gelotia lanka is a species of jumping spider of the genus Gelotia. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Brettus cingulatus is a species of jumping spider of the genus Brettus. It is found in Myanmar and India.

References

Further reading