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neoscona crucifera
Barn Spider (Hentz's Orbweaver), large female
home garden
Has been habitually building an impressive web each evening in the same corner of my yard for several weeks now. Catches and eats lots of bugs which is very appreciated.
It's my understanding that the flat abdomen IS a characteristic of a neoscona (with the vernacular name "barn spider" not to be confused with the species araneus cavaticus).
A comparison of a neoscona crucifera orbweaver with a flat abdomen, and a similar orbweaver with bumps on the abdomen, araneus gemma, appears here:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/redmite.ht...
(orb weavers are compared approx. half way down the webpage)
If you review the secondary photos of my spotting, you can see she does have stripes on her legs.
The Wikipedia photo is not a great representation of this species in my oppinion, an image search with Bing or Google of "neoscona crucifera" gives some much better examples.
Hm...looking at the wikipedia link of neoscona crucifera, it doesn't appear to be the right ID...the legs of your spotting are more furry and in one color. The Barn Spider has striped legs. Aside from that your spotting has a flat abdomen - unlike the Barn Spider
Spotted on Sep 19, 2011
Submitted on Sep 19, 2011
