''Brettus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

jumping spider Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), family Salticidae. As of 2019, this family contained over 600 described genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders at 13% of all sp ...

s. Its six described species are found in southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

, with a single species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Two species in this genus, ''B. celebensis'' and ''B. madagascarensis'', were originally described as members of the genus ''

Macopaeus ''Macopaeus'' is a genus of jumping spiders endemic to Madagascar. It contains only one species, ''Macopaeus spinosus''. Two other species ('' M. celebensis'' Merian, 1911 and '' M. madagascarensis'' Peckham & Peckham, 1903) were described in th ...

''. According to Thorell, the genus name is taken from Greek mythology. Brettos (Βρεττος) was a son of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

(appears at

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

Diet and behaviour

At least 2 species, ''

Brettus cingulatus ''Brettus cingulatus'' is a species of jumping spider of the genus ''Brettus''. It is found in Myanmar and India. The species was first described in 1895 from a single specimen. The female was originally misidentified as another species, ''B. al ...

'' and ''

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

'', feed on other

spiders 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 dive ...

. Taking advantage of their ability to not adhere 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. ...

, they practise

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 ...

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. These two spider species also prefer web-building spiders to insects as prey. They are in these regards similar to the other

Spartaeinae The Spartaeinae are a subfamily of the spider family Salticidae (jumping spiders). The subfamily was established by Fred R. Wanless in 1984 to include the groups Boetheae, Cocaleae, Lineae, Codeteae and Cyrbeae, which in turn were defined by E ...

jumping spiders of

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

'' Portia,

Cyrba ''Cyrba'' is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders). The genus was erected by Hippolyte Lucas in 1846. Description ''Cyrba'' spiders are small to medium size spiders that are usually brightly colored. Their cephalothorax ...

'' and ''

Gelotia ''Gelotia'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1890. Species It contains ten species, found only in Asia and on New Britain: *'' Gelotia argenteolimbata'' (Simon, 1900) – Singapore *'' Gelotia bimacula ...

''.

Species

* ''

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

, 1900 —

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 ...

* ''

Brettus anchorum ''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 ...

'' Wanless, 1979 — India,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

* ''

Brettus celebensis ''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 ...

'' (Merian, 1911) —

* ''

'' Thorell, 1895 — India,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

* ''

Brettus madagascarensis ''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 ...

'' ( Peckham & Peckham, 1903) —

* ''

Brettus storki ''Brettus'' is a genus of Salticidae, jumping spiders. Its six described species are found in southern Asia from India to China and Sulawesi, with a single species endemic (ecology), endemic to Madagascar. Two species in this genus, ''B. celebe ...

'' Logunov & Azarkina, 2008 — Borneo

Footnotes

References

* (2009)
The world spider catalog
version 9.5. ''American Museum of Natural History''.

Diet and behaviour

Species

Footnotes

References

External links

Further reading