Plebs eburnus

The spider species Plebs eburnus is commonly referred to as the eastern grass orb-weaver or the eastern bush orb-weaver, and sometimes more simply as the bush orb-weaver. It is an orb-weaver spider from the family Araneidae endemic to Australia. It was previously classified as a member of the genus Araneus but has been reclassified in 2012 [3] into a newly described genus Plebs.[2] It is closely related to the Western Bush Orb-weaver, P. cyphoxis. It is a very common spider with distinctive white markings (although these marking can be quite variable), which give it the species name eburnus pertaining to ivory. It is found in scrub and tall grasses where the female constructs a vertical web usually no more than 2 metres from the ground, and stays there day and night. The web of some of these spiders has been seen to be decorated with nearly vertical stabilimentum (like a clockface at 5 minutes to 5 or its mirror image).[4] The stabilimentum of P.cyphoxis is usually observed vertical (like a clockface at 6 o'clock).[5]

Plebs eburnus
Female P.eburnus on web.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Araneae
Suborder:
Araneomorphae
Family:
Araneidae
Genus:
Plebs
Species:
P. eburnus
Binomial name
Plebs eburnus
Synonyms
  • Epeira eburna, Keyserling 1886[2]
  • Araneus eburnus, Rainbow 1911[2]
  • Araneus eburneus, Simon 1895[2]
  • Epeira rubripunctata, Rainbow 1893[2]
  • Epeira sinuosus, Rainbow 1893[2]
  • Aranea eburnea, Roewer 1942[2]
  • Aranea rubripunctata, Roewer 1942[2]
  • Aranea sinuosa, Roewer 1942[2]
  • Araneus rubripunctatus, Bonnet 1955[2]

Distribution
Approximate range of P. eburnus created from field record locations in Joseph & Framenau 2012.[2]

P. eburnus can be found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and South Australia. Some rare occurrences have been observed in Western Australia although this is not part of the typical range of this species.[6] The ranges of this species and P. cyphoxis overlap in South Australia.[2]

Size and markings

On the underside of the abdomen, along with other members of the genus Plebs, there is a characteristic U-shaped white marking with two white spots either side of the spinnerets.[2] The females, as with most spiders, are larger than the males and are around 8mm in length, compared to just 5mm in length for the males.

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References
  1. Keyserling, Eugen von (1886). "Die Arachnidens Australiens". Nürnburg. 2: 87–152.
  2. Joseph, Mathew M.; Framenau, Volker W. (2012). "Systematic review of a new orb-weaving spider genus (Araneae: Araneidae), with special reference to the Australasian-Pacific and South-East Asian fauna". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 166: 279–341. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00845.x.
  3. "Plebs eburnus". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  4. "Plebs eburnus". Arachne.org.au. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  5. "Plebs cyphoxis". Arachne.org.au. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  6. "Araneus eburnus". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
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