''Brettus adonis'', is a species of

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

of the genus ''

Brettus ''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. Two species in this genus, ''B. celebensis'' and ''B. madagascarensis ...

''. It is endemic to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Diet and behaviour

''Brettus adonis'' preys upon other spiders, mainly web-building ones. Members of this species do not stick to any kind of

spider silk Spider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make Spider web, webs or other structures, which function as sticky nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring, or to wrap up prey. ...

, and will invade the webs of other spiders to feed on them. To capture a web-building spider, they typically pluck upon the silken strings at the edge of the web with their

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...

s, varying how they pluck until an effective rhythm is found. Then, they repeat this manner of plucking and lure the spider over(

aggressive mimicry Aggressive mimicry is a form of mimicry in which predators, parasites, or parasitoids share similar signals, using a harmless model, allowing them to avoid being correctly identified by their prey or host. Zoologists have repeatedly compared t ...

), capturing or stabbing their prey in a lunging attack. Apart from spiders, ''Brettus adonis'' will also prey on insects, although they prefer to eat web-building spiders. They usually capture insects via close range lunging attacks.

References

Salticidae Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Spiders of Asia Spiders described in 1900 {{Salticidae-stub