Orchard Spider

Description:

Tetragnathidae; Unidentified Leucauginae This spider is a very small juvenile. I think it belongs to either the Genus Lecauge or the Genus Opadometa. Its web was slanted as opposed to vertcal or horozontal and the spider was orientated head down towards the ground with the underside facing upwards. All of this seems to indicate a juvenile Lecauge sp., but there is a problem. Wikipedia states that spiders of the lecauge Genus have two rows of long, slender curved hairs on the Femurs of leg 4. My specimen appears to have slender curved hairs (not noticeably long) on the femur, tibia and metatarsus of all legs, 1,2, 3 & 4. Is this because it is a junior and will change as it grows more mature or because it is not a Lecauge, but possibly an Opadometa? I simply don't know. So "Unidentified Lecauginae" it is for now.

Habitat:

Spotted on its web in the garden of my wife's family home, a short distance from our house.

Notes:

I have numerous other Lecauge and Opadometa photos in my collection and I intend to select some of my favourites for uploading to Project Noah. I feel that once I get into that, I will probably uncover something which will help me to refine my identification of this specimen.