Araneus bradleyi - 17mm body length - 35mm entire length

''Plebs'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of orb-weaver spiders first described by M. M. Joseph & V. W. Framenau in 2012. Though many of its species have been moved around, a 2012 taxonomic revision suggested that these spiders comprise a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genus of closely related spiders that evolved in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and, through subsequent movements, spread into parts of

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Pacific islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

Etymology

"Plebs" is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "common people" and refers to this genus being common in Australia.

Description

''Plebs'' can be recognised by the unique pattern on the underside of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

: a light inverted U shape, followed by two light spots anterolateral to the

spinneret A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and ar ...

s. Spiders of this genus have a typical "eriophorine" genital morphology: the male

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

has a paramedian apophysis and an elongated transverse median apophysis, while the female

epigyne The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. ...

has an elongated scape without terminal pockets.

Behaviour

These spiders are mainly diurnal, unlike most Araneinae which are mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

. They build regular orb-webs with vertical

stabilimenta A stabilimentum (plural: stabilimenta), also known as a web decoration, is a conspicuous spider silk, silk structure included in the webs of some species of Spider web#Types of spider webs, orb-web spider. Its function is a subject of debate. O ...

(web decorations used by this and other diurnal orb-weavers). Their webs are generally built in grass and low shrubs.

Species

it contains twenty-two species. Seven are found in Australia, thirteen in Asia, one on

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, and one endemic to

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. *'' Plebs arleneae'' Joseph & Framenau, 2012 – Australia (Queensland, New South Wales) *'' Plebs arletteae'' Joseph & Framenau, 2012 – Australia (Lord Howe Is.) *'' Plebs astridae'' (

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

, 1917) – China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan *'' Plebs aurea'' (Saito, 1934) – Japan *'' Plebs baotianmanensis'' (Hu, Wang & Wang, 1991) – China *'' Plebs bradleyi'' (Keyserling, 1887) – Southeastern Australia, Tasmania *'' Plebs cyphoxis'' (

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 ...

, 1908) – Australia (Western Australia, South Australia) *'' Plebs eburnus'' (Keyserling, 1886) (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

) – Eastern Australia, Tasmania *'' Plebs himalayaensis'' ( Tikader, 1975) – India *'' Plebs mitratus'' (Simon, 1895) – India *'' Plebs neocaledonicus'' (

Berland Berland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *André Berland (1940–2025), French historian and biographer *Bjørn Berland (born 1977), Norwegian footballer *Eliezer Berland (born 1937), Israeli Breslov rabbi *François Berléan ...

, 1924) – New Caledonia *'' Plebs oculosus'' (Zhu & Song, 1994) – China *'' Plebs opacus'' Joseph & Framenau, 2012 – Vanuatu *'' Plebs patricius'' Joseph & Framenau, 2012 – Australia (Victoria, Tasmania) *'' Plebs plumiopedellus'' (Yin, Wang & Zhang, 1987) – China, Taiwan *'' Plebs poecilus'' (Zhu & Wang, 1994) – China *''

Plebs rosemaryae In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the grou ...

'' Joseph & Framenau, 2012 – Australia (Queensland, Norfolk Is.) *'' Plebs sachalinensis'' (Saito, 1934) – Russia (Far East), China, Korea, Japan *'' Plebs salesi'' Joseph & Framenau, 2012 – New Guinea *'' Plebs sebastiani'' Joseph & Framenau, 2012 – Philippines *'' Plebs tricentrus'' (Zhu & Song, 1994) – China *''

Plebs yanbaruensis In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the group ...

'' (Tanikawa, 2000) – Japan

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3392200 Araneidae Spiders of Asia Spiders of Australia Araneomorphae genera Taxa named by Volker W. Framenau