Brettus

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Brettus sp 06734 cropped.jpg

| image_caption = Brettus sp. in Kerala, India

| taxon = Brettus

| authority = Thorell, 1895

| diversity_link =

| diversity = 6 species

| type_species = Brettus cingulatus

| type_species_authority = Thorell, 1895

| range_map =

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

}}

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, were originally described as members of the genus Macopaeus.World Spider Catalog

According to Thorell, the genus name is taken from Greek mythology. Brettos (Βρεττος) was a son of HeraclesGreek Mythology Index: Brettus (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.{{Cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=Robert R.|last2=Hallas|first2=Susan E. A.|date=1986-10-01|title=Predatory versatility and intraspecific interactions of spartaeine jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae): Brettus adonis, B. cingulatus, Cyrba algerina, and Phaeacius sp. indet.|journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology|volume=13|issue=4|pages=491–520|doi=10.1080/03014223.1986.10422979|issn=0301-4223|doi-access=free}} 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.{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Robert R.|date=2000-01-01|title=Prey preferences and visual discrimination ability of Brettus, Cocalus and Cyrba, araneophagic jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from Australia, Kenya and Sri Lanka|journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology|volume=27|issue=1|pages=29–39|doi=10.1080/03014223.2000.9518206|issn=0301-4223|doi-access=free}}

Species

Brettus adonis Simon, 1900 — Sri Lanka
Brettus anchorum Wanless, 1979 — India, Nepal
Brettus celebensis (Merian, 1911) — Sulawesi
Brettus cingulatus Thorell, 1895 — India, Myanmar
Brettus madagascarensis (Peckham & Peckham, 1903) — Madagascar
Brettus storki Logunov & Azarkina, 2008 — Borneo

Footnotes

References

{{aut|Platnick, Norman I.}} (2009): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog], version 9.5. American Museum of Natural History.

External links

[http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/brettus/bret-jph.htm Photograph of Brettus sp.]