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Eustala anastera
Small gray spider with a large yellow abdomen
Found on an ash tree after being cut down. Group of Ash growing in tall grass prairie
Would scurry across tree, stop and tuck legs under abdomen. From research, I believe it is a member of the genus Eustala, however the color does not match any of the species.
Spotted on Jun 26, 2014
Submitted on Jun 27, 2014
5 Comments
Nice detective work! It looks like you found it. :-)
ForestDragon, I think it looks more like Humpbacked Orbweaver (Eustala anastera)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/154582
Incredible camouflage and colour.
It does bear some resemblance to the the Giant Lichen Orbweaver, but this spider was much smaller. I guess it is possible that it could be a smaller color varied form, I don't really know enough about spiders to be sure.
This reminds me a lot of the Giant Lichen Orbweaver, Araneus bicentenarius, but more yellow. I wonder if it's a color variation. http://bugguide.net/node/view/2018